§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sewage works in South Yorkshire that are to be allowed relaxation in breaching the legal limits on effluent set by him; what is the time scale for this relaxation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanWe have confirmed that applications for temporary variations in consent conditions will continue to be considered in cases where improvements to sub-standard sewage treatment works are in hand or are programmed for completion by March 1992. Applications will be considered over the coming months and it is not, therefore, possible to indicate at this stage in which cases they will be approved.
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§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by water authority the public funds being used to improve the sewerage system prior to the proposed privatisation of the water industry; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanImprovements to water authorities' sewerage and sewage treatment works are generally financed by charges and borrowing. In a small number of cases, this investment is assisted by EC funding. Grants are also available under the Rural Water Supplies and sewerage Acts 1944–1971 towards the first-time provision of mains water and ewerage in rural areas and under the Industrial Development Act 1982 in assisted areas. It is not possible, however, to say to what extent authorities will be financed in these ways prior to privatisation.