§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a comprehensive list of every agreement that has been made with a water company for relaxation of any of the standards in the EC drinking water directive, together with dates by which compliance is required.
§ Mr. BaldryMy right hon. Friend has not entered into any agreements with water companies for the relaxation of standards. He has authorised relaxations of certain standards in certain circumstances under regulation 4 of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989, which implements article 9 of the drinking water directive; and he has accepted undertakings from companies under section 20 of the Water Act 1989 where he was satisfied that the company was taking all appropriate action to secure or facilitate compliance with a particular standard.
Details of all authorisations and undertakings are available on the public register maintained by water companies. Copies of them are included in the register maintained by the Director General of Water Services and are available in the Library. In most cases compliance must be achieved by not later than 1995.
§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish full information about compliance with drinking water quality standards in every water supply zone.
§ Mr. BaldryEach water company maintains a public register which contains full information for each water supply zone about the results of analysis of all sampling carried out by the company under the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989. Individuals are able to obtain copies of register entries from the companies. The first annual report of the drinking water inspectorate, to be published later this year, will summarise the extent to which each water company has complied with the requirements of the regulations in its water supply zones.