HC Deb 09 March 1999 vol 327 cc153-5W
Mr. Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has for ensuring equality of treatment(a) between British ports and (b) between British and European ports in respect of waste water charges on fish processing. [74172]

Mr. Meacher

Every part of the United Kingdom and every European Union country is equally bound by the requirements of Directives including the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. It is for each Member state to ensure compliance with the implementation timetable for each Directive, and failures to implement are matters for the Commission to pursue. The Government expects other Member states and the Commission to fulfil these obligations.

In the United Kingdom, the private sector water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales and the public sector water authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are all undertaking investment programmes in treatment works to meet the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, which sets deadlines phased between 1998 and 2005 depending on the size of the discharge and sensitivity of the receiving waters. The costs falling on individual customers will depend on the costs incurred in meeting treatment requirements and the way in which such costs are apportioned between customers.

The Government strongly supports investment to upgrade coastal discharges, which will make a major contribution to improving the environment.

Mr. Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has for ensuring that waste water charges for fish market(a) merchants and (b) processors become operational at the same time and at the same amounts. [74173]

Mr. Meacher

The level of trade effluent charges depends on the volume and characteristics of the waste produced and the level of treatment. In some cases the level of treatment required is being increased under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

It is not feasible to bring every new treatment works into operation on the same date. However, the Directive sets deadlines phased between 1998 and 2005.

Mr. Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate how many effluent treatment plants have been built since the directive on waste water became operational in(a) Denmark, (b) Holland, (c) France, (d) Spain and (e) the United Kingdom to comply with the waste water directive; and to what extent the cost of these is charged to the fish processing industry. [74171]

Mr. Meacher

The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive was adopted by EC Member States in May 1991. Under Article 17 of the Directive, Member States have reported on implementation programmes. A broad estimate of the number of larger plants to be built or upgraded can be obtained from the difference between the number of plants in each country which were estimated to be achieving compliance with the Directive's treatment requirements in 1992 (the baseline year used for the reports) and in 2000 (the first main deadline under Article 4 of the Directive).

Denmark estimated 75 additional effluent treatment plants would be compliant with the standards of the Directive; Holland estimated 17 fewer plants (through rationalisation of treatment systems); France estimated 560 additional plants and Spain estimated 585 additional plants. The United Kingdom estimated an additional 503 plants would be compliant for the same period.

The fish processing industry does not directly incur costs associated with the construction of effluent treatment plants. Costs to the fish processing industry, and other dischargers of trade effluent, arise from the treatment by sewerage undertakers of effluent discharged to sewers before final discharge to receiving waters. Costs levied by the sewerage undertakers are based on the volume and concentration of trade effluent.