Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Further to Minute No. 5 of 4 July 2017 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources that updated on United Utilities’ (UU) increase in surface water charges to schools.

The report detailed that Members and officers met with representatives of UU on 16 November 2017 at which UU confirmed the compatibility of the concessionary scheme for schools’ site area based charges with relevant charging guidance – including Defra’s guidance on concessionary schemes for surface water drainage charges, and their view on the longevity of the scheme. This was subsequently confirmed in writing by UU by letter dated 15 December 2017 and a copy of the letter was attached to the report as Appendix 1. However, it was noted that DEFRA could still make further allowances and include certain community assets in their concessionary scheme and the report recommended that on this basis, DEFRA should be contacted once again to arrange a meeting at their London offices as offered previously.

Appendix 2 to the report provided details of Salix Finance Ltd. that was funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Education, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government and was established in 2004 as an independent, publicly funded company, dedicated to providing the public sector with loans for energy efficiency projects; that Sefton Council had operated a Salix invest to save loan fund pot for over 12 years, for its corporate sites to reduce energy consumption and lifetime savings to date from these investments were now in excess of £1M; and that OFWAT had shown an interest in the SALIX funding model and proposed this to be an option that this Committee should explore for development in conjunction with BEIS as well as OFWAT and the water companies where possible.

RESOLVED: That the Head of Regulation and Compliance be requested to:-