Chamber and committees

Section 1 of the Bill specifically requires Ministers to exercise the duty to develop the value of Scotland’s water resources in ways that will contribute to the sustainable use of those resources. The Water (Scotland) Act 1980 tasks Scottish Water with maintaining a supply of wholesome water, and Scottish Water undertakes water resource planning to ensure it meets this commitment. The Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 places duties on Scottish Water to use its resources economically, efficiently and effectively. It also charges Scottish Water to act in the way best calculated to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development as well as protecting the environment and natural heritage. Where extraordinary climatic conditions render Scottish Water’s normal resource planning insufficient, Part 7 of the Bill gives Scottish Water a range of tools that can be deployed as part of a water shortage order to ensure that supplies are protected. Such orders can be used proactively to address threatened shortages, without waiting for an actual shortage to occur.

Private water companies are not involved in the setting and approval of Scottish Water’s infrastructure plan. Ministers are required by Section 56A of the Water Industry (Scotland)Act 2002 to direct Scottish Water as to the standards of services and investment activities that Scottish Water must undertake in any regulatory period. Ministers also approve Scottish Water’s Delivery Plan which sets out the timeframe for delivering the investment necessary to meet the requirements set out in the Directions. A copy of the Ministerial Directions covering the current regulatory period 2010-15 is available on the Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/waterindustryscot/improvingservices/currentimprovement.

No. The Bill does not change the existing position that Scottish Water is the sole supplier of water and wastewater services to the Scottish household sector.

Section 4 of the Water Services (Scotland) Act 2005 prohibits the use of the public networks by anyone other than Scottish Water or Scottish Water’s agents. It is therefore not possible for Scottish Water to generate any income from private companies for such activity.

The exemptions from the regime cover activities which are for the most part non-consumptive of the water abstracted and confer wider public benefit.

The threshold was chosen following a review of the abstractions currently in place, and will ensure that only the largest and most significant new proposals are required to gain approval.

The regulatory frameworks as established by the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 stipulate that customers covered by a charges scheme may only be charged by Scottish Water for the provision of core functions. Customers are therefore protected from the costs arising from non-core functions and section 24 of the Bill clarifies this as regards the new duties imposed on Scottish Water. The Bill also sets out that the duties on Scottish Water to develop the value of its assets and promote the use of its assets for renewable energy generation are imposed only so far as is not inconsistent with the economic, efficient and effective exercise of Scottish Water’s core functions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10490 on 7 November 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Decisions on individual mergers are a matter for the colleges involved. Colleges will of course consult on their merger proposals and I expect them to consider the views of stakeholders and the public in taking forward merger.

That said we are maintaining further education (FE) student support at the record level of over £95 million despite very significant financial pressures. Students aged 18 and over can apply for a maintenance bursary of up to £89.07 per week. All FE students who live more than 2 miles from the college are also eligible for consideration for a travel allowance. Students studying higher education courses are eligible to apply for financial support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland.

While the current configuration of college campuses is expected to remain the same, we would expect colleges to monitor the implication of any merger on students through a post merger evaluation process, including the SFC.