§ Mr. Grieveasked the Secretary of State for Trade when the Monopolies and Mergers commission report on the Severn-Trent water authority will be published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Sally OppenheimThe report is published today. This is a very thorough and valuable report.
I have taken careful note of the commission's views on the subject of consumer representation. These will be helpful in my current review of nationalised industry consumer representation. Meanwhile, the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services and I are giving careful consideration to the commission's comments and their implications for the water industry as a whole.
I also note the commission's recognition of the difficult problems of reorganisation faced by the auhority on coming into operation in 1974 and that in many respects, such as quality of service, they have made good progress since then.
The commission favours the acceleration of plans for zone and district metering as part of an increased effort to control leakage. It also draws attention to the desirability of further consideration of possible costs and benefits of universal metering for consumers.
The Commission finds that there is cause for concern about a number of aspects of the authority's operations and particularly about the lack of firm control by the authority over its divisions. It recommends a new and more efficient management structure and measures to improve the effectiveneess of consumer representation. The Government is seeking comments and proposal from the authority as to action to be taken in relation to the improvements recommended.