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Waste Management
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 22 June (WA 115), what criteria are applied by local authorities in deciding whether or not to prosecute individuals under Section 33 of
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The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): A local authority will decide whether or not to prosecute an individual based on its local enforcement policy and the evidence and circumstances of the individual case.
The Government have not issued any guidance to local authorities in this regard.
Water Supply: Directives
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their latest estimate of United Kingdom expenditure since 1972 on the implementation of (a) the bathing water directive; (b) the drinking water directive; and (c) the urban wastewater treatment directive.[HL6799]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Water supply and sewerage services are devolved matters, so I will confine my reply to England and Wales, which use the same regulatory frameworks. The urban wastewater treatment directive was adopted by the Council of the European Communities in May 1991; its implementation would not have incurred any expenditure prior to this date.
Since privatisation the water industry has invested more than £55 billion (between 1990 and 2004-05) in water and wastewater services, asset maintenance, environmental improvements, and securing supply and service improvements. This is an average annual capital investment in the water industry of more than £3.7 billion over the past 15 years. During the 1980s, the equivalent investment figure was £2 billion per year.
Around £26.5 billion of the investment which has taken place since privatisation is directly related to sewerage service and water quality improvements. Because expenditure often meets multiple objectives, however, it is not possible separately to distinguish the expenditure needed to meet individual European directives.
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