§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in view of the fact that the Severn Trent Water Authority has served notice on Wolver-hampton Council that it intends to set up its own system for billing and collecting water charges, what estimate he has made of the increased cost to central Government of this method of collecting water rates and of increased staff numbers.
§ Mr. Denis HowellDirect billing imposes no costs on central government. I have advised water authorities to pay close attention, when contemplating the introduction of direct billing, to the overriding need to avoid an increase in the combined expenditure of water authority and rating authorities.