§ 16. Mr. J. P. W. Mallalieuasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial help is given by his Department to firms which install special equipment to prevent pollution of air or water by their processes.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerSuch equipment qualifies for the usual assistance and incentives available to firms for capital investment.
§ Mr. MallalieuDoes the right hon. Gentleman consider that the funds available at present are sufficient? Has he in mind that the expense of putting in equipment to deal with pollution is very high, sometimes as much as a third of the full capital cost, and that this affects a firm's competitive position against rivals in other countries who are not so concerned about pollution?
§ Mr. WalkerI realise that that is an aspect of the matter. On the other hand, I feel that it is the duty of those who want to carry out a manufacturing process which pollutes either rivers or the air to pay the cost of clearing up the pollution, rather than that the taxpayer should do it.
§ Rear-Admiral Morgan-GilesWill my right hon. Friend take it that going ahead at a reasonable pace in the way he described, on this problem of the pollution of water, is a better scheme than rushing headlong into the introduction of regional water authorities, which certainly cannot be accepted by local authorities within the next year?
§ Mr. WalkerNo, Sir. I consider it vital to organise our river systems on the basis of a complete water cycle. It will be in the interest of diminishing costs of both water extraction and of cleaning up the rivers to have matters organised on a river system basis.