§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial targets he has set for the Northumbrian water authority; on what basis he requires it to account for the depreciation of assets; and how these compare with the targets and requirements set for other English water authorities.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 13 March 1984, c. 94–95]: The following table gives details of the financial targets which have been set for Northumbrian and the other English water authorities as a rate of return on the current cost value of their net assets for the years 1981–82 to 1983–84.
Per cent. 1981–82 Per cent. 1982–83 Per cent. 1983–84 Anglian 1.38 2.06 2.06 Northumbrian 2.52 1.87 1.87 North West 0.80 1.26 1.26 Severn-Trent 1.02 1.17 1.25 Southern 1.09 1.18 1.25 South West 2.17 1.47 1.47 Thames 1.24 1.09 1.25 Wessex 1.65 1.50 1.50 Yorkshire 0.85 1.14 1.25 Statutory instruments 1981 No. 826, 1982 No. 1060 and 1983 No. 1592 refer. Apart from achieving the financial targets set by the Secretary of State under section 29(2)(a) of the Water Act 1973, all authorities are required to break even taking one year with another by virtue of section 29(1) of that same Act. In the case of Northumbrian water authority, the level of interest charges is such that recently the authority has needed to overachieve its financial target in order to break even in its main historic cost accounts, so that the revenue requirement has been determined by this consideration rather than the financial target.
The basis for depreciation of the authorities' assets is explained in the notes to their accounts, copies of which are available from the Library.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the Northumbrian water authority's forecast for the demand for water at the public inquiry over the Kielder water project and the actual demand from domestic and industrial users over the past five years.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 13 March 1984, c. 94–95]: The following forecast of the demand for water in the region was put forward by the predecessors of the Northumbrian water authority at the public inquiry into the Kielder water project in 1972.
Thousand cubic metres/day Year 1971 922.2 1981 1,416.2 1991 1,627.7 2001 1,756.0 Actual demand for water from domestic and industrial users in the region over the past five years has been: 257W
Thousand cubic metres/day Year Domestic (unmetered) Industrial (metered) Total 1979 513.2 611.4 1,124.6 1980 501.4 547.3 1,048.7 1981 508.8 544.3 1,053.1 1982 541.9 535.8 1,077.7 1983 * * 1,039.2
Source of Assistance: Financial years £000 1974–75 £ 1975–76 £ 1976–77 £ 1977–78 £ 1978–79 £ 1979–80 £ 1980–81 £ 1981–82 £ 1982–83 £ 1983–84 £ Land Drainage Acts 3.5 16.4 26.0 22.5 10.7 — (1.9) 24.3 13.9 — Local Employment Act 1972 497.4 3,472.3 5,867.3 4,842.9 5,663.0 3,634.2 4,122.0 3,936.9 2,681.9 1,395.3 Rural water and sewerage services acts 99.6 107.8 88.4 93.2 91.7 91.4 93.7 106.7 93.2 99.8 Repayable Grant — — — — — — — — — 5,000.0 Total aid 600.5 3,596.5 5,981.7 4,958.6 5,765.4 3,725.6 4,213.8 4,067.9 2,789.0 6,495.1 In addition, during this period, the authority has received grants from the European regional development fund amounting to £46.85 millions and loans from the European Investment Bank and European Coal and Steel Community totalling some £142 million.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the domestic rate charged by the Northumbrian water authority and by what percentage it has increased in each of the past 10 years and for 1984–85.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 15 March 1984, c. 95]: The following table gives details of the charges (not rates) made by the Northumbrian water authority for water, sewerage and environmental services to unmeasured households during the last 10 years. The standing charges for water and sewerage services levied during this period have been converted to rate poundages.
Equated Charge Per £RV pence Percentage increase over previous year £ 1974–75 10.22 — 1975–76 15.49 51.6 1976–77 19.94 28.7 1977–78 22.3 11.8 1978–79 23.4 4.9 1979–80 23.4 Nil 1980–81 29.1 24.4 1981–82 34.3 17.9 1982–83 38.5 12.2 1983–84 43.0 11.7 258W
Table A Actual Year on Year Percentage Increase in level of charges for unmeasured water services charges. Estimated Increase in Household Charges Water Authority 1979–80 per cent. 1980–81 per cent. 1981–82 per cent. 1982–83 per cent. 1983–84 per cent. 1984–85 per cent. North West 7.5 21.3 18.5 8.9 5.6 5.5 Northumbrian Nil 24.4 17.9 12.2 11.7 18.0 Severn-Trent 14.0 18.3 14.5 7.8 5.1 4.7 * Not yet available.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial assistance has been given to the Northumbrian water authority by the Government in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 13 March 1984, c. 95]: The following table gives details of the financial assistance given in the last 10 years.
The same information for 1984–85 is not yet available although the authority's charges for unmeasured water services will be:
Water supply £ Sewerage services £ Environmental services £ Standing charges 8 8 Nil Charge per £ Rateable Value 21.93p 18.22p 0.6p