Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005

My Lords, I thank the Minister for bringing this matter before the House. It is nice to think that we are of a mind to assist the Scottish Parliament, which has obviously come up with this new structure that it feels will be more transparent. I am interested to hear that it is a parallel with what exists in England and being able to refer to the Competition Commission is obviously worthwhile. To begin with, I wondered whether it was a parallel to Ofwat, but the Scots have obviously done without Ofwat and do not need that element. In the Scottish context, it is quite a challenge to determine the correct price for water charges because such a large part of the expense of providing water is the capital. What the correct charges will be will greatly depend on how that is regarded. The only thing I would say is that I hope that, as they have come up with a government body called ““WIC””, it will not mean that the citizens of Thurso feel slighted.