§ 3. Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of sewage treatment works failed their consent standards in 1986; and what is the equivalent figure now.
§ The Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Michael Howard)Twenty-three per cent, of sewage treatment works failed to comply with their assessed standards in 1986. In 1991, the latest year for which figures are available, that figure had fallen to 6 per cent.
§ Miss NicholsonI am delighted to hear my right hon. and learned Friend's good news of the 17 per cent. rise in compliance with sewage treatment standards. However, he should know that my constituents are concerned about a sewage treatment plant which is not yet in existence. Can he assure me that if South West Water locates a sewage treatment plant at Northam in my constituency, that plant will reach the highest possible standards? My constituents do not believe that it will.
§ Mr. HowardI understand the concerns that my hon. Friend expresses. She has drawn them to the attention of my Department. If the proposal does not meet adequate standards, it will not receive consent. In addition, all the environmental implications of the proposal will be fully taken into account before any decision is made.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsWill the Minister comment on a recent survey by The Sunday Times of convictions for water pollution during 1992 which showed that five of the top 10 offenders were water authorities, with, I regret to say, Welsh Water at the top of that list of offenders? Is it not a sad commentary on the Government's environmental record that in the recent National Rivers Authority survey our rivers were found, for the first time, to be in a worse state in 1990 than in 1980? Would it not be much wiser if the money from our massively increased water bills were used for environmental improvements rather than for buying hotels, increasing chairmen's salaries and providing big dividends for shareholders?
§ Mr. HowardOur water bills finance the investment in improved water quality in which I thought the hon. Gentleman was interested. One cannot, at one and the same time, complain about standards and also complain about the bills that are necessary if standards are to be 945 improved. Prosecutions simply demonstrate that the NRA is determined to be even-handed in its approach to securing observance of the law.