§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of Project Aquatrine. [4452]
§ Mr. IngramProject Aquatrine will transfer responsibility for the maintenance and operation of all the Ministry of Defence's water and wastewater assets and infrastructure in Great Britain to private sector service providers.
Four consortiums are bidding for the first package of work of this £2.9 billion private financial deal. An Invitation to Negotiate will be issued to bidders for the first package of work on 16 July 2001.
The consortiums invited to negotiate for this work, covering central southern England, western England and Wales, are:
Brey Utilities, comprising:Brown and Root, Earth Tech and Yorkshire Water.C2C, comprising:Severn Trent, Costain and Arup.Diamond Alliance Ltd.Thames Water plc.The preferred bidder will be announced in early 2003, with the contract expected to be awarded in late 2003.