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People & Opinion Utility Week community UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH DECEMBER 2016 | 7 "Households in England and Wales on average spend £389 a year on water and sewerage, so it is right they should understand what they're getting for their money" Water UK boss Michael Roberts on the Discover Water website, which lets customers compare water companies' performance. £1 billion The amount the Levy Control Framework blew its £7.67 billion budget by. According to Tom Kelly, a non-executive director at the former Department of Energy and Climate Change, the overspend occurred because of "a failure to match the inevitable uncertainties involved in making policy in such a complex environment with an adequate process of continuous assessment of the original assumptions made to form policy. That represents, to varying degrees, weaknesses in the original governance arrangements that were not rectified over time, a lack of transparency, and a tendency to group-think." Nick Winser spoke at the Utility Week Health & Safety conference in Birmingham on 30 November. A report from the event will appear in the 16 December issue of Utility Week. What's the most important lesson/idea people should take away from your presentation? Safety leadership must come from the very top. What has been the most successful or challenging Speaker's corner Nick Winser, non-executive director, Kier, and chairman of its safety, health and environment committee experience in your career? Building the Milford Haven gas pipeline. Identify five people you would invite to your dream dinner party and why? 1. Sir William Bazalgette – the London sewerage system. 2. Sir Humphry Davy – the Davy Lamp. 3. Al Gore 4. May Abraham and Mary Paterson – the first women factory inspectors, appointed in 1893. 5. John Locke – first director general of the HSE. What items do you have at work that reveal something about your personality? 1. Fold-up bicycle. 2. Electric car. 3. iPad. For more information about the conference, visit: http://events.utilityweek. co.uk/hs Master of water science Water efficiency organisation Waterwise has been working with Exeter University to develop a new MSc in water science, policy and governance. The course is designed to bridge the gap between science and application in the sector, and encompasses the social, political and scientific aspects of water management. It is aimed at professionals and graduates wishing to develop a better understanding of the regulatory, policy-making and interpretative techniques that are required in a changing water industry. The new MSc course aligns itself closely with the major national and international environmental and sustainability strategies. Adam Hayes, director of training provider, JTJ Workplace Solutions, Neil Schofield, head of external affairs, Worcester, Bosch Group, writes: Greg Clark's electricity fixation Greg Clark's first major energy speech as the new BEIS secretary of had an electricity fixation. The speech, delivered at the Energy UK annual conference, was used to outline the government's energy priorities. However, the absence of a strategy for gas and heat has sparked concern. In nearly 2,500 words, the secretary of state used the word gas once and didn't mention heat at all. The entire speech is based on the argument that electricity is the magic bullet that can deliver the government's climate change commitments, a position that is fundamentally flawed because the argument revolves around the UK's current energy usage patterns and the demands of the consumer. To read the full blog, visit: http://bit. ly/2fNeoea From the blog