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16 Jun 2005 : Column 572W—continued
Waste Education
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to allocate a proportion of landfill tax revenue to waste education based work in schools. [4426]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley) on 2 February 2005, Official Report, column 896W.
Water/Sewerage Services
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average monthly cost to consumers is of (a) water services and (b) sewerage services in each water supply area in 2004–05 (i) in total and (ii) broken down by those who were (A) metered and (B) unmetered. [4455]
Mr. Morley: The average monthly cost to households of water and sewerage services is set out in the following tables, broken down by company area and by measured and unmeasured supply.
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Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the volume of sewage discharges from each sewage treatment works in South West London was in each of the last 10 years. [3164]
Mr. Morley: Information for most of the requested years is either incomplete, or not readily available without disproportionate effort in the available time. Readily available information is presented in the following table, where sewage works in South West London are taken to be those listed. Information for 2002 is not included as it is incomplete.
(10)Includes estimated data.
(11)Rounded.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department has given to water companies and sewage service providers to ensure that their sewage treatment works meet the criteria of the EU 1991 Urban Waste and Water Treatment Directive. [3165]
Mr. Morley: In England the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is transposed by the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994.
Guidance to the regulations, titled Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, Working Document for Dischargers and Regulators, A Guidance Note" was issued to sewerage undertakers and the Environment Agency in 1997.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalties there are for (a) water companies and (b) sewage service providers who fail to meet the EU 1991 Urban Waste and Water Treatment Directive. [3166]
Mr. Morley: Regulation 6(2) of the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, places a duty on the Environment Agency to ensure, through its discharge consenting powers under schedule 10 of the Water Resources Act 1991, as amended by the Environment Act 1995, that treatment standards set in the regulations are met. Where the Environment Agency considers sewerage undertakers are in breach of their consents it can undertake legal proceedings. Courts finding in favour of the Environment Agency can then levy fines.
Sewerage undertakers also have a duty under section94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to provide sewage collecting systems, which is supplemented by Regulation 4 of the above-mentioned regulations. The
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Water Act 2003 also gives Ofwat, the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales powers to impose financial penalties in certain circumstances. The approach is included in the 'Statement of policy with respect to financial penalties' which is on Ofwat's website, www.ofwat.gov.uk
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of sewage service providers who are failing to meet the EU 1991 Urban Waste and Water Treatment Directive in (a) London and (b) England; and if she will make a statement. [3167]
Mr. Morley: It is the role of the Environment Agency to monitor and enforce the requirements of environmental legislation.
Each year the Environment Agency advises Ofwat of water companies' compliance with Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive requirements contained in discharge consents. Ofwat publishes summary information in its Levels of Service for the water industry in England and Wales" annual reports available on its website.
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to ensure that there are adequate numbers of disposal points at sewage treatment works for delivered waste from domestic cess pools. [3737]
Mr. Morley: It is the responsibility of the users of cess pools and septic tanks to arrange the lawful disposal of waste from them. Services for the collection, transport and treatment of such waste are open to competition, and are offered by sewerage companies and by other firms. Neither Ministers nor Ofwat have intervened to require companies to provide such services.
TREASURY
Bankruptcy and Repossession
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) individuals have entered into bankruptcy and (b) properties have been repossessed in each quarter since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [4532]
John Healey: The requested data is in the following tables. Data on individual bankruptcies is published by the Department for Trade and Industry, while data on repossessions is published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Repossession figures are only available on a biannual rather than on a quarterly basis. Property repossessions are close to record lows as interest rates remain around their lowest levels for almost half a century. The Treasury has worked closely with the Department for Trade and Industry and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the recent consumer credit bill, which sets out policy on tackling over-indebtedness, financial exclusion, unfair lending practices and loan sharks; and on the quality and quantity of information available to consumers looking for credit.
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