§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average life expectancy of sewers which were constructed prior to the Water Act 1973.
§ Mr. AtkinsIt is for the water company to determine whether a sewer requires replacement. I understand advances in repair and renovation techniques are having the effect of enabling sewers to continue in use after the date at which reconstruction would have been expected to have been required in earlier years.
§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the actual expenditure on sewerage infrastructure renewal for each water company for each year since 1989 and the total to date;
(2) when he was informed of the £424 million accrued underspend of sewerage infrastructure renewal moneys in the water industry annual accounts;
(3) if he will list chronologically the representations he has received on the requirements of infrastructure renewal in the water industry, indicating which responses to them have been made public;
(4) what is the total accrued national infrastructure renewal charge to date shown in the water industry annual accounts for each water service company.
§ Mr. AtkinsIn order to spread the cost to customers, the Secretaries of State decided at privatisation in 1989 to limit spending on infrastructure renewal in the short term and to build up a liability in the accounts to spend the money at a later date. The Director General of Water Services is responsible for monitoring water companies' spending on infrastructure renewal. Details of the industry's spending on infrastructure renewal are published each year in Ofwat's "Report on Capital Investment and Financial Performance of the Water Companies in England and Wales", copies of which have been placed in the Library. Information on individual216W companies' expenditure on infrastructure renewal can be obtained from the appointed business accounts which are available from the Ofwat library. Representations on infrastructure renewal in the water industry were received from the Severn Renovation Federation in 1993; the response was not made public, but the industry's spending plans have been in the public domain since 1989.