Water (Hansard, 31 October 1988)

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the model appointment for water services plcs.

§ Mr. Moynihan
Early in the new Session of Parliament.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether there will be any reduction in local authority rents for council tenants participating in the compulsory water-metering trials.

§ Mr. Moynihan
No. However, in those trial areas where the local authority acts as the water undertaker's billing agent and collects water charges with rents, tenants will pay their measured water charges direct to the water undertaker.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of listed buildings owned by the water authorities in England and Wales and their locations.

§ Mr. Moynihan
I regret that this information is not held by the Department.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the advisers retained by his 533W Department to date in preparation for the privatisation of the water industry and the reasons for which each is retained.

§ Mr. Moynihan
I give in the table below a list of the advisers the Department has appointed to advise on the privatisation of the water industry, together with their responsibilities.

J Henry Schroder Wagg & Co. Ltd., Merchant Bankers

Touche Ross & Co., Chartered Accountants

Clifford Chance, Solicitors

Rowe & Pitman Ltd., Stockbrokers

Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, Financial assessment advisers

Binnie & Partners, Consulting engineers

Professor Michael Beesley, Economic consultant

National Westminster Bank PLC, For advice on the receiving bank function

We have also appointed, jointly with the Water Authorities Association, Dewe Rogerson Ltd. as marketing advisers.
In addition to advisers, the Department has appointed, jointly with the appropriate water authority, the following firms to act as reporting accountants:—

Price Waterhouse (for North West, Yorkshire, Anglian, Severn, Trent and South West water authorities).

Coopers and Lybrand (for Thames, Northumbrian and Wessex water authorities).

Deloitte Haskins and Sells (for Southern water authority), whom my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has appointed jointly with Welsh water authority, as reporting accountants for Welsh Water.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what response he has had from(a) the 10 water authorities and (b) the Water Authorities Association to his letter requesting them to take action with regard to the John Lawrence report on the incident at Lowermoor water treatment works of the South West water authority;
(2) whether he has any plans to commission an independent inquiry into the incident at Lowermoor treatment works of the South West water authority on 6 July.

§ Mr. Moynihan
A thorough and impartial inquiry into the causes and effects of the incident at the Lowermoor treatment works including health and safety aspects has already been carried out by Dr. John Lawrence, director and head of the ICI group environmental laboratory at Brixham and a non-executive member of the board of South West Water. We have no plans for a further inquiry. South West Water has accepted the findings in Dr. Lawrence's report and is now in the process of implementing the recommendations. In the light of the Camelford incident, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has asked water undertakers to carry out a thorough review of their management and operating procedures at water treatment works (particularly unmanned installations) and to report to him by the end of the year. Reports have so far been received from two water undertakers.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to commission a market valuation of the assets of the water industry prior to its proposed privatisation.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The Department is in discussion with representatives of the water authorities about how best to ensure that the prospectuses of the successor companies properly reflect the value of their land assets. No decision has been taken on the extent to which new valuations should be undertaken.
534W

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what form of national and regional negotiating machinery he intends to establish for water industry staff transferred to the shadow National Rivers Authority and those retained within the remaining structure.

§ Mr. Moynihan
Until the NRA and the water utilities are established on vesting day, existing water authority staff remain as employees of the water authorities, and will be covered by the authorities' existing negotiating machinery.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the advisers retained so far by each of the 10 water authorities in preparing for the privatisation of the water industry and the reasons for which they are retained.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The appointment of advisers for each water authority is a matter for that authority.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the advisers retained so far by the Water Authorities Association in preparing for the privatisation of the water industry and the reasons for which each is retained.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The appointment of advisers to the Water Authority Association is a matter for the association.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to merge the South West water authority and Wessex water authority; and if he will state the date of the merger.

§ Mr. Howard
I have made no such plans.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to write off the capital debts of(a) the 10 water authorities and (b) 28 statutory water companies prior to the proposed privatisation of the water industry.

§ Mr. Moynihan
No decisions have yet been taken on the capital structures of the companies which, subject to the necessary legislation, will succeed the 10 regional water authorities. The statutory water companies are already in the private sector. They are not indebted to the Exchequer and the question of the Government's writing off their debts does not arise.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has made any estimate of the risks to groundwater of(a) accidental spillages of solvents and petrochemicals and (b) motorway drainage soakaways.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The Department has not made any quantitive estimate of these risks to groundwater. We will however be examining these particular problems amongst others in the context of the Halcrow report on groundwater quality, which will be published shortly.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what urgent measures are being taken to reduce levels of the cancer-causing substance polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in London drinking water.

§ Mr. Moynihan
Investigatory work commissioned by the Department and published by the Water Research 535W Centre (WRc) has shown that public drinking water supplies can very occasionally contain concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) above the standard of 0.2 microgram per litre set by the EC directive relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption (80/778/EEC). Medical experts advise that there is unlikely to be any significant health risk from drinking water which occasionally exceeds the standard. Nevertheless, in view of the WRc findings, the Department is writing to all water undertakers asking them to carry out surveys for PAH in drinking water beyond present monitoring requirements, and providing guidance on how to conduct the surveys. The information provided by these surveys should enable water undertakers to develop remedial programmes should these prove necessary.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what specific measures designed for the protection of the health and well-being of domestic consumers of drinking water he will introduce in his proposals for water privatisation regarding unacceptable levels of dieldrin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrates.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The proposed legislation to privatise water authorities will establish drinking water quality standards in regulations, incorporating the requirements of the EC drinking water directive and will cover dieldrin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrate. All water utilities will be required to adhere to the standards, and to fulfil programmes of improvement agreed with the Department wherever any are not met. Local authorities will retain their existing duties to check the quality of drinking water and will also have a duty to check that there is no general deterioration in quality. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will appoint technical assessors who will ensure that the water utilities are monitoring water quality properly and are complying with the standards.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the growth of water table levels under London, as reported on by the Construction Industry Association; and what proposals he has for remedial action.

§ Mr. Moynihan
The Department has been aware for some time that water levels in the deep aquifer beneath London are rising and has contributed to a study of the engineering implications by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association. The final report is not yet available though I understand that, on present trends, the study predicts that damage to some buildings and tunnels could be sustained in 20 to 40 years if no preventive action is taken. We shall consider the final report carefully with a view to deciding whether further research and monitoring is needed to ensure that appropriate and timely action can be taken to prevent such damage.