§ Mr. BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to improve water quality in the Mersey Basin; and what guidance he has given to(a) the Water Regulator and (b)North-West Water on the sewage works at Bolton, Eccles, Ellesmere Port, Sale and Wigan. [103390]
§ Mr. MeacherI refer my hon. Friend to the response I made to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon) on 25 November 1999,Official Report, columns 167–69W, in which I announced my final guidance to the Director General of Ofwat on the environmental objectives which the water industry would be required to meet between 2000 and 2005. North-West Water was one of the seven water and sewerage companies for which I confirmed that the entire agreed investment programme should be completed by March 2005. This will encompass substantial improvements to the quality of river and coastal sewage discharges and to combined sewer overflows in the Mersey Basin.
In addition, improvement schemes for Bolton, Eccles, Ellesmere Port, Sale and Wigan sewage treatment works will receive further study in terms of their costs and benefits before they proceed, as recommended by the Director General. I have asked the Environment Agency to explore in more detail the benefits of the remaining schemes and to set them out in a way which will allow Ministers to judge these against improved information on costs from Ofwat and the companies concerned.