§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East on 24 June 1980, Official Report, column 132, if he has now received any special representations from any individual water authority facing special difficulties over the repair and maintenance of its sewerage systems; and, if so, what response he has given.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 23 July 1981, c. 234.]: All water authorities sent us their four-year plans for capital investment in the spring and some emphasised their need to renew and replace dilapidating sewers. This was one of several investment needs which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services and I have discussed with the chairmen of the National Water Council and of the water authorities in the last few days.
When we gave water authorities their capital expenditure allocations for 1981–82, special account was taken of the problem of dilapidated sewers in the North-West; and this will be taken into account next time too, along with other claims by the water authorities and the wider considerations that arise in the public expenditure survey.