§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will withdraw the £240,000 payment by the Government to the compulsory meter trial in the Normanton constituency in view of the statement made by Sir Gordon Jones, chairman of Yorkshire Water, that domestic metering of water may not now take place; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what assessment he has made of the value for money of the Government's 50 per cent. contributions to South Normanton in the light of the announcement that meters may not be used in Yorkshire for assessing water charges for domestic customers; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory[holding answer 1 February 1990]I understand that, although Sir Gordon Jones has expressed a personal preference for charging domestic customers on the basis of a flat rate charge in the future, the board of Yorkshire Water has made no decision as to a future method of charging to replace charging by rateable values. Whatever method of charging is adopted by Yorkshire Water, it will not affect the Government's decision to contribute towards the cost of the South Normanton trial, which, together with the other metering trials, will provide information to the Director General of Water Services and the water industry generally on a wide range of metering issues. The Government consider that the lessons learnt from all of the trials will help ensure that those companies who decide to adopt metering in place of charging by rateable values will do so cost effectively and with the least inconvenience to customers.