HC Deb 14 February 1996 vol 271 cc993-5
3. Mr. Davidson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will assess the current ability of the consumer organisations covering the privatised utilities to monitor the level of service given by the privatised water companies. [13505]

The Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs (Mr. John M. Taylor)

In general, we are content with the existing consumer representation arrangements for the privatised utilities. For the water industry, the performance of the Ofwat customer service committees in monitoring levels of service is a matter for the Director General of Water Services.

Mr. Davidson

Does the Minister accept that, at a time when the number of complaints from consumers is ever rising, this is an area where adequate funding should be provided so as to ensure that the complaints can be dealt with adequately and so that there can be proper supervision of the privatised utilities?

Mr. Taylor

In England and Wales, new price limits for water have cut increases in charges. Water and sewerage companies promise further rebates to customers. The utilities now guarantee standards of service. However, I understand that there will always be some complaints and it is very much part of the Government's anxiety and ambition to ensure that the consumer protection arrangements are thorough and work effectively.

Mr. Nigel Evans

Is it not bizarre that Labour Members take every opportunity to attack the privatised utilities when their paymasters, the trade unions, invest their pension funds in those very utilities?

Mr. Taylor

Yes, it is a strange paradox that the trade union which sponsors the deputy leader of the Labour party is a heavy investor in the utilities. Since privatisation, the National Consumer Council has been there to put the customers' view. I understand that the Director General of Water Services and the customer service committees regard integration of the committees with Ofwat as a virtue, not a weakness.

Mr. Harvey

Does the Minister believe that the consumer organisations are able adequately to address regional differences between rates of charge for privatised utilities? Is he aware that the south-west already pays twice as much for its water as other regions, and that electricity and gas are heading the same way? How does he think that the consumer organisations can address the economic development consequences for the south-west?

Mr. Taylor

One of the virtues of privatisation is that prices have been falling. The hon. Gentleman must accept, as I do, that there are necessarily regional variations. That is why there is no reason for consumer representation for public utilities to follow any particular model. The structure needs to reflect the particular market.

Mr. John Marshall

Does my hon. Friend agree that the privatisation of water has benefited the consumer through increased investment, better quality water and fewer drought orders than in 1976?

Mr. Taylor

I completely agree with my hon. Friend on every point, and especially on the fact that we are delivering some of the cleanest water in Europe.

Mr. Nigel Griffiths

How can the Minister wash his hands of responsibility for the fact that complaints about water companies from customers have almost trebled?

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

He can now afford to do so.

Mr. Griffiths

If the hon. Gentleman thinks that water is cheaper, he should speak to his constituents, because it certainly is not. Why have the Government hamstrung the consumer organisations by consistently cutting their funding? The amount for the National Consumer Council has been cut, money for the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux has been cut by £767,000, funding for the Gas Consumers Council has been cut by £369,000 and even the consumer safety unit in the Department of Trade and Industry has had a £595,000 cut.

Mr. Taylor

I do not know how many of those questions the hon. Gentleman expects me to answer—[HON. MEMBERS: "All of them."] I shall make a portmanteau of all the hon. Gentleman's generalisations about funding. I especially draw his attention to the fact that the Government grant for NACAB, one of the organisations that he mentioned, has gone up this year by £600,000. Those arrangements have enabled us to have the privatised utilities—[Interruption.] The Labour party is all too keen to say that Governments meddle in consumer arrangements. Governments should not meddle in those arrangements, and part of the virtue of privatisation is to get the Government and Ministers out of the utilities.