§ Lord BachMy honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The contract for Project Aquatrine package B, which covers the Ministry of Defence's estate in Scotland, has been awarded to Thames Water Nevis Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Thames Water whose major partner will he Scottish Water.
Project Aquatrine is one of the Government's leading and most significant public/private partnership (PPP) projects and will transfer the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the department's water and waste water assets and infrastructure throughout Great Britain to private sector providers. This project will enable the transfer of environmental risk to those in the private sector who are best placed to manage it and enable the Ministry of Defence to focus on its core activities. It is a 25-year arrangement worth £2.3 billion across three packages that cover the MoD's estate in Great Britain.
Following a pre-commencement period, Thames Water Nevis Ltd in partnership with Scottish Water will commence services in March 2005.