§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to safeguard the rights of employees in the Water Executive in respect of pension entitlements, redundancy entitlements and other contractual terms and conditions of employment. [34271]
§ Mr. MossOn 1 April 1996 a next steps agency will be created which will deal with the work currently carried out by the Water Executive of the Department of Environment (NI). This is an interim step towards the Government's ultimate goal of privatising the work of the Water Executive, but that goal will not be attainable in the lifetime of the present Parliament. In the meantime the Government are proceeding with plans to manage the Water Executive as an agency within the Department of the Environment (NI).
Agency staff will be employees of the Department and as such will continue to be civil servants and will enjoy the terms and conditions laid down by the Northern Ireland civil service code and the pension entitlements under the principal civil service pension scheme (Northern Ireland).
The Agency will be expected to make further improvements in the quality and cost-effectiveness of water and sewerage services to its customers. Through market testing, the chief executive will wish to examine whether parts of the agency's activities can be delivered more efficiently and economically by the private sector. Should the chief executive decide that a service could be better provided by the private sector, he will have to consider whether Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations apply in any transfer of the service. This will depend on the particular terms and conditions contained in any bid from the private sector, but where the regulations do apply the existing terms and conditions of employment will transfer with staff to the new employer. Where they do not apply, staff may opt not to transfer to the new employer and to remain with the Department either to be redeployed or possibly to face redundancy. In either case, existing terms and conditions will apply.
Pension entitlements are protected by employment law, not by TUPE, and in a case of transfer of service both the Department and successful contractor must so arrange things that pension rights enjoyed by staff after the transfer are broadly comparable in value with those enjoyed before.
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§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 29 June,Official Report, column 779, on the future of the water service in Northern Ireland (a) which bodies were consulted before the decision to establish the next steps agency and (b) what factors influenced his decision. [34451]
§ Mr. MossIn July 1992, in accordance with Government policy, it was announced that the water service of the Department of the Environment (NI), as it was then known, would be privatised in 1995–96. Due to a number of technical difficulties the Government announced in April 1993 that it would not be practicable to effect the privatisation within the lifetime of the present Parliament. On 29 June 1994 the Minister of State with responsibility for DOE (NI) announced that privatisation of water and sewerage services remained the ultimate goal of the Government, but, in the interim, plans were proceeding to establish the Water Executive as a next steps agency within the Department by 1 April 1996.
These arrangements are entirely in keeping with the well established concepts of the next steps initiative through which the Government seek to improve the delivery of public services. As such, no external consultation was necessary.
The main consideration in deciding to pursue agentisation was the search for ever-increasing improvements in economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland.