Beaches (Hansard, 22 March 1989)

§ 12. Mr. Ron Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the number of beaches which do not conform to European Economic Community standards; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Howard
We have received a number of representations about bathing water quality. As I announced on 22 February we are making good progress in cleaning up our bathing waters—two thirds of which now meet European Community standards, compared with 55 per cent. in 1987. We are the only member state in the Community to be developing a programme for achieving full compliance.

§ Mr. Brown
Although recently there have been some long overdue improvements to bathing waters, is it not clear that the Government have been complacent for too long? The Government should remember that there are many floating voters who expect the water around the coast to be at least to the standard of the average European country. However, some 300 million tonnes of raw sewage a day are being pumped into the coastal areas around Britain, in addition to the dumped toxic chemicals. That is an untenable position. If the Government are turning green instead of blue, it is about time that they did something about the problem. After all, it is not an issue to be sniffed at.

§ Mr. Howard
Before the hon. Gentleman accuses the Government of complacency, he should reflect on the fact that the Community's bathing water directive was promulgated in 1975, when it gave two years for the designation of bathing waters. However, when the Opposition left Government in 1979 not a single bathing water had been designated.

§ Mr. David Shaw
Will my hon. Friend consider the beaches at Dover and Deal? Will he in particular—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Tony Banks
Who did the hon. Gentleman's research?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order.

§ Mr. Shaw
Will my hon. Friend consider the fact that the beach at Deal has problems because the Opposition, when in power, did little to improve it, especially when a Labour Member was representing that constituency? Now that a Conservative Member represents that constitutency, will my hon. Friend consider the representations of that Member and ensure that the beach at Deal is improved in the near future? [Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman has done very well.

§ Mr. Howard
I am sure that my hon. Friend has made his representations to the Southern water authority. Substantially more money is being made available for the improvement of bathing waters and more still will be made available when the industry is in the private sector.

§ Mr. Win Griffiths
Will the Minister confirm that in his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Leith (Mr. Brown) he misled the House by saying that the British Government are the only ones who have presented a plan to Brussels for the improvement of the bathing beaches of Britain, because, up until yesterday afternoon, the Commission informed me that it was expecting a plan from the British Government by the middle of March, but that it had not received it? Furthermore water authority officials have been told not to speak about investment programmes for the beaches, as I found out when I telephoned the Welsh water authority last week.

§ Mr. Howard
When the hon. Gentleman checks Hansard tomorrow he will find that he has accused me of saying something quite different from what I said.

§ Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman
Can my hon. and learned Friend tell me how we stand in the European clean beach 1084 league and how much progress we have made since the Labour Government cut sewage disposal expenditure by 50 per cent.?

§ Mr. Howard
I wish that I could tell my hon. Friend how much progress we have made, but as they did not designate any beaches or keep any records it is impossible to make such a comparison. Our position in relation to other European countries is improving substantially and the pace will quicken when the industry is in the private sector.

§ Mr. Allan Roberts
Does the Minister accept that none of our south-coast beaches will conform to EEC standards if the lindane in the container that has sunk in the English Channel leaks into the sea? To what extent are the beaches and the marine environment at risk from the accident? What action have the Government taken to deal with the threat? Has there been a dispute between the French and British Governments over it? Where was the ship going before it sank and why were those deadly cancer-causing chemicals being transported? What was their intended use? Will he follow the Japanese and Swedish example by banning the use of lindane in Britain?

§ Mr. Howard
I do not see how banning the use of lindane in Britain would have had any effect on what happened in the Channel the other day. The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that the French authorities are doing their best to recover that cargo and I hope that he will join me in wishing them all success.

§ Mr. John Marshall
Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that it is ridiculous for Opposition Members to complain about the present state of the water industry and then to argue that there should be no change in that industry? Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that all the Labour party complaints underline the case for privatisation?

§ Mr. Howard
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) has been wandering round the country pointing at various dirty rivers as though to suggest that that in some way undermines the case for privatisation; but it makes the case for privatisation. That is the way in which we shall gain the extra resources necessary to achieve the improvements in our water environment that we all want to see.