13 January 2006
Scottish Water is on course to reduce operating costs by more than a third over a four-year period, its interim accounts revealed this week.
Figures for the first six months of the 2005/06 financial year show that the publicly owned utility operated the core business for £8.4m less than for the same period of 2004/05 – a reduction of 8.4% in real terms.
The accounts also disclose that Scottish Water invested £320.2m of the £662m sum forecast for 2005/06, representing an average capital investment of £53m per month. This is an increase of £17m on the previous year's figures.
Deputy environment and rural development minister Rhona Brankin said Scottish Water was continuing to reduce operating costs while boosting capital investment and keeping customers' bills as low as possible.
She added: 'Delivering substantial efficiencies by reducing operating costs by more than one third in four years is a challenging task. These accounts show that Scottish Water is on course to meet this target.'
The minister claimed that this showed the success of the Executive's decision to merge the three former water authorities and retain the water industry in the public sector.
Scottish Water chief executive Jon Hargreaves told the Scottish Parliament's audit committee that the authority had delivered improved water quality and better sewage treatment and had responded more quickly to customer complaints since taking over from the three former authorities.
However, the committee was also told by Sir Ian Byatt, chair of the Scottish Water Industry Commission, that services to customers could be 'considerably better'.
PFjan2006
