§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the letter written by officials in his Department and sent to water authorities on 14 February giving advice on how to deal with the EC directive on water quality.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 19 June 1989]: No. The letter referred to was a working document on the assumptions to be made in compiling expenditure projections for the purpose of k setting (k is the initial limit on price increases to be contained in companies instruments of appointment under the Water Bill). The letter made it clear that these assumptions would be subject to review until the end of the k setting process. We will state the assumptions underlying ks once they are determined.
We have made it clear to water authorities and companies that expenditure arising from any obligations left out of initial k, for example because the costs are too uncertain for inclusion, and expenditure arising from new obligations imposed after ks are set, will be eligible for consideration in reviews of charges by the Director General of Water Services.
§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what his current estimate is for complying with EC directive 80/778/EEC in each of the water authority areas.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 19 June 1989]: The Government are fully committed to compliance with the EC drinking water directive as quickly as possible, taking account of practicalities. Water undertakers in England and Wales have drawn up improvement programmes for supplies which regularly or intermittently fail to comply with the directive in certain respects. Only when these programmes have been thoroughly assessed will it be possible to estimate the time scale for compliance with the directive.