§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to announce his decision on the need for secondary treatment of sewage; and if it will be in time to allow water companies to comply with the deadline set in the EU Urban Waste Water Directive. [44392]
§ Angela EagleMy Department is considering the Government's policy options in relation to implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. Decisions will be made in the context of the current Periodic Review of water prices, which aims to strike a proper balance between the need for environmental improvement and the resulting impact on water bills. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive contains a number of deadlines for different levels of sewage treatment according to both the size of the discharge and the nature of the receiving waters. The vast majority of work necessary to meet these deadlines will not be influenced by decisions whether to allow primary treatment at comparatively few coastal locations.