§ Dr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will place in the Library the reasoned opinion received from the European Commission concerning compliance with the European Community drinking water directive;
413W(2) at what date he anticipates that United Kingdom drinking water will comply with the requirements of the European Commission directive (80/778/EEC) on the quality of drinking water;
(3) when he intends to respond to the European Commission's reasoned opinion on the failure of the United Kingdom to apply correctly the European Commission directive (80/778/EEC) on the quality of drinking water;
(4) when he intends to provide the European Commission with a timetable of compliance with the European Commission directive (80/778/EEC) on the quality of drinking water;
(5) whether the programme, timetable and cost of compliance with the European Commission directive (80/778/EEC) on drinking water will be included in the prospectus of each water authority prior to flotation;
(6) what will be the cost of compliance with the European Commission directive (80/778/EEC) on the quality of drinking water;
(7) when he intends to provide the European Commission with a costed programme of compliance with the European Council Directive (80/778/EEC) on the quality of drinking water.
§ Mr. RidleyBoth the European Commission and the Government regard the detailed, formal correspondence on infraction proceedings as confidential. The deposit in the Library of the recent reasoned opinion would be a breach of that confidentiality.
A formal response will be made shortly to the European Commission's reasoned opinion, which refers to the absence of United Kingdom legislation directly applying the EC drinking water directive and the fact that some supplies do not yet comply with the nitrate standard in England and the lead standard in Scotland.
The Water Bill and the regulations to be made under it will incorporate the provisions of the directive directly into domestic law. The Commission accepts that such legislation will enable them to close this part of the reasoned opinion.
Public water supplies to the United Kingdom are at present of a very high standard and most supplies already comply with the EC directive. We are fully committed to compliance with the EC directive as soon as practicable. Those supplies which regularly fail to meet a standard are being improved and should comply in the next year or two. However, two years after the directive came into force, and five years after we had notified the Commission that we were assessing compliance on an average sample basis, it informed us that every single sample had to comply. This has necessitated the preparation of detailed compliance programmes by water undertakers to meet the new interpretation, mostly for standards related to the taste and appearance of the water. These programmes are still being assessed and it is not therefore possible at present to state how long it will take to comply fully with the EC directive. However, discussions are taking place with the Commission about the time scale of the programmes and the technical difficulties involved.
The United Kingdom has already submitted to the Commission for its consideration detailed programmes by water undertakers to meet the nitrate standard in England and the lead standard in Scotland. We await the Commission's considered response to these programmes.
414WEach water undertaker has been formulating the long-term operating costs and capital expenditure programmes as part of setting the limit to price increases (`K') which is to be applied under the Water Bill to water undertakers. We are reviewing the cost projections which have been submitted to the Department and discussing them with water undertakers individually. We will not be in a position to give new forecasts until these appraisals have been completed. The compliance programmes, together with costings and timetables, will be included in the prospectuses to be published later this year.