Draft Water Services (Scotland) Bill
Consultation on Proposed Provisions
PREFACE
On 3 February 2003, Ross Finnie MSP, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, outlined the Scottish Executive's policy for addressing the possibility of competition on Scotland's public water and sewerage networks. He said that the Executive would amend the present regulatory framework for public water and sewerage services by introducing legislation that would:
- Protect public health and the environment by prohibiting common carriage on the public water and sewerage networks.
- Safeguard the Executive's social objectives by prohibiting anyone other than Scottish Water from serving household customers.
- Establish a licensing regime to regulate the provision of retail services to non-household customers.
The First Minister, in his statement to the Scottish Parliament on 28 May 2003 about the Executive's legislative programme, confirmed that the Executive would consult publicly and then bring forward legislation on these matters. Accordingly, the Executive has prepared a draft Water Services (Scotland) Bill. This paper invites comments on the draft Bill. It comprises the following sections:
A A description of the Executive's policy.
B The draft Bill.
C A commentary on the draft Bill.
D A series of questions about the draft Bill and the policy underpinning it on which responses from the
public and interested parties are sought.
E A Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment of the provisions contained in the draft Bill.
F Proposals that the Bill should include provisions relating to the Coal Authority.