§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the outstanding capital debt on water and sewerage services for each regional and islands council in the most recent year; and what arrangements he has made for this debt to be transferred to the three new water and sewerage authorities on 1 April 1996. [5288]
§ Mr. KynochThe latest year for which figures are available is 1994–95. The information as at 31 March 1995 as contained in capital outstanding returns from local authorities is set out in the following table:
£000s Borders regional council 31,581 Central regional council 75,798 Dumfries and Galloway regional council 55,292 Fife regional council 103,743 Grampian regional council 210,308 Highland regional council 73,837 Lothian regional council 268,769 Orkney Isles islands council 8,939 Shetland Isles islands council 1,594 Strathclyde regional council 565,047 Tayside regional council 131,000 Western Isles islands council 15,835 Total 1,541,743
Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the external consultants, employed to date to assist with the transfer of water and sewerage services to the new water authorities in Scotland, and what fees they have received. [5528]
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 12 December 1995]: The Babtie group has been commissioned to assist with the transfer of water and sewerage assets to the new water authorities. Payments have totalled £407,724.77 to date, under two contracts.
Relevant debt outstanding at 31 March 1996 will be transferred to the new water authorities by virtue of section 91 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The mechanism of transfer is currently under consideration.