§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates his Department has evaluated from(a) North West Water and (b) Ofwat of (i) the total cost and (ii) the impact of average annual household bills in the period 2000 to 2005 of meeting EU bathing water standards on the Fylde coast. [42037]
§ Angela EagleThe open letter of 30 April from the Director General of Water Services, "Setting the quality framework", includes assessments of the costs of meeting a wide range of potential obligations, including measures under EU Directives, based both on cost estimates provided by companies and on the preliminary challenge of that information by OFWAT. The letter expresses those costs both as total capital costs and as illustrative impacts on average household bills.
The Environment Agency and North West Water estimated a cost of £100 million for their plans, announced in February this year, for work in the Fylde coast area to improve compliance with Directive bathing water standards. My Department, in consultation with OFWAT, is now considering the plans, their cost and the effect on customer bills.
§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what guidance he will be giving the Director General of Water Services under the periodic review of water price limits to apply from 1 April 2000, on(a) the scope for water companies to transfer the costs of meeting mandatory EU bathing water standards onto their customers and (b) the Government's priorities for improvements in water and environmental quality. [42035]
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§ Angela EagleIn response to the open letter of 30 April from the Director General of Water Services ("Setting the quality framework", a copy of which is in the library), my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Wales will publish in the summer their guidance on the environmental obligations which they will expect the water and sewerage companies to meet, including their EU obligations. This guidance will take into account the advice of the Environment Agency and the views of other interested persons, and will reflect the Government's priorities for improvements in water quality and the water environment. It will then be for the Director General, in setting price limits, to ensure that companies are able to meet these obligations.
§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of North West Water's record in meeting mandatory EU bathing water standards along the Fylde coast; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of their recent bathing water improvement scheme in this area; [42034]
(2) what undertakings he has received from North West Water that the latest investment programme to improve bathing water quality along the Fylde coast will result in compliance with EU Directive standards; and what reports he has received from the Environment Agency on this matter. [42054]
§ Angela EagleMy right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment announced the 1997 bathing water quality results in December and said that the results in the North West were especially poor and that this was particularly disappointing given that major bathing water improvement schemes had been completed in the area. In February this year, the Environment Agency and North West Water announced plans for further work in the Fylde coast area which they regard as necessary to improve compliance with the Directive standards. My Department has received a detailed report from the Environment Agency on these measures and the progress made.
§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what reports he has received from the Director General of Water Services, under part of the periodic review of water price limits for the period 2000 to 2005, on the scope for further improvements in efficiency by North West Water to offset the cost of meeting EU bathing water standards on the Fylde coast. [42036]
§ Angela EagleThe Director General has outlined his proposed approach to assessing the efficiency of the water companies at the next periodic review in "Assessing the scope for future improvements in water companies' efficiency—a technical paper" published in April 1998, a copy of which is in the Library.