Water and Sewerage (Hansard, 4 May 1993)

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to continue not to allow disconnections of domestic water supply in Scotland following reorganisation of water and sewerage services.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 14 December 1992 at column 79.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will carry out an assessment of the impact on(a) renal dialysis users and (b) people suffering from incontinence of the reorganisation of water and sewerage services in Scotland.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: No decision on the future of water and sewerage services in Scotland has been taken. All relevant factors will be taken into account, once a decision has been taken.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total estimated expenditure necessary to bring water and sewerage standards in Scotland into line with all EC waste and water directives; and what is the likely time scale for carrying out that work.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: Estimated expenditure on these directives totals £2.5 billion over the next 15 years.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the CBI, the Scottish Council 37W for Development and Industry and the National Federation of Small. Businesses regarding the reorganisation of the water and sewerage services in Scotland.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: My right hon. Friend has held no such meetings.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the impact of the reorganisation of water and sewerage services in Scotland on(a) manufacturing and (b) service industries.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: An objective of restructuring the water and sewerage services in Scotland is to achieve an efficient service at the lowest reasonable cost to both industrial and domestic consumers.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what way the future employment of people working in the water and sewerage service in Scotland is included in the assessment of options at present being undertaken; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: As the consultation paper "Investing for Our Future" made clear, staffing considerations will be taken fully into account in working out the detailed arrangements for the future of the services.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the British Medical Association and the British Association of Social Workers about the reorganisation of the water and sewerage services in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: The British Medical Association responded to the consultation paper "Investing For Our Future" and its response is on open file in St. Andrew's house library in Edinburgh. A copy can be obtained through the Library of the House. No representations have been received from the British Association of Social Workers.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current time scale for the reorganisation of the water and sewerage service in Scotland.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]:The intention is that the reorganisation of water and sewerage services will proceed in parallel with the reform of local government.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what amounts are included in the 1993–4 estimates, and the estimated expenditure for 1994–5 and 1995–6, for the reorganisation of the water and sewerage services in Scotland.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: Provision of £400,000 has been made in the current year to meet the costs of any further consultancy work which may be commissioned in connection with water and sewerage restructuring.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the consultants commissioned to carry out work on the options for the future of the water and sewerage service in Scotland.
38W

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: Quayle Munro Ltd.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the White Paper on the future of the water and sewerage services in Scotland will be published; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: I will announce my decision on the future of water and sewerage services in Scotland in due course.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of cost-benefit analysis, efficiency audits and quality standards assessments have taken place in relation to the proposed reorganisation of the water and sewerage services in Scotland.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: Reform of local government will require reorganisation of the water and sewerage services. The consultation paper "Investing For Our Future" set out eight options. These are being examined in the light of responses to the consultation paper. The objective is to put in place a structure which is capable of providing services of the highest quality, at lowest reasonable cost to the consumer and which can maintain and improve safeguards for the environment.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the CBI about the reorganisation of water and sewerage services in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: The CBI responded to the consultation paper "Investing For Our Future", and its response is on open file in St. Andrew's house library in Edinburgh. A copy can be obtained through the Library of the House.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the full cost of the work done in the options for the future of the water and sewerage service in Scotland; and what were the costs of(a) the Quayle Munro consultancy, (b) the preparation, printing and publication of the consultative document, (c) other consultancy costs, (d) legal advice on the feasibility of the options being considered and (e) in-house costs.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: The costs incurred on work on the options for the future structure of water and sewerage services in Scotland are as follows:

(a) The total cost of consultancy work undertaken by Quayle Munro Ltd. is £101,602. The original contract price was £50,000 as announced in my reply given to the hon. Member on 26 October 1992, Official Report, columns 530–31. Since the report was submitted and used in the preparation of the consultation paper "Investing for our Future", further follow-up work has been commissioned and undertaken. The cost of this work was £51,602. These figures exclude value added tax.

(b) Printing and publication of the consultation paper "Investing for our Future" cost £11,838, including value added tax.

(c) No other consultancy costs have been incurred.

(d) No external legal advice has been obtained.

(e) The running costs of the division in the Scottish Office which deals with water and sewerage restructuring were £133,020 in 1992–93. Provision of £387,480 has been made to meet the costs of staff 39 working full time on this policy during 1993–94. Other staff work on this from time to time; it is not possible to provide an accurate figure at this time of the costs associated with their work.

§ Mr. McLeish
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the privatised water companies which have expressed an interest to his office on the issue of the future of Scotland's water and sewerage service.

§ Sir Hector Monro
[holding answer 29 April 1993]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) on 18 March 1993 at column 390.