Subscribe to this blog's feedThe arrival of the competitive water market in Scotland on 1 April has coincided with yet another debate among Members of the Scottish Parliament over whether Scottish Water should remain in public ownership, be made a mutual company owned by customers (often compared with Welsh Water, though its parent Glas Cymru is of course not a true mutual but a Company Limited by Guarantee) or be privatised like the English water undertakers. The debate was triggered by the Scottish Conservatives, spearheaded by shadow cabinet member Mary Scanlon MSP, more as a means of embarrassing Alex Salmond’s ruling Scottish National Party and Labour than a realistic attempt to force a sell-off. .
The Tories have dreamt up a figure of £100 a year that they claim each Scottish taxpayer would save by removing Scottish Water from the public sector borrowing limit to spice up the debate. The outcome is that the SNP water minister Stewart Stevenson, despite a pre-election commitment to public ownership, has been forced to agree to yet another review of Scottish Water’s future after Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander made a similar U-turn by saying she was “sympathetic” to the idea of mutualisation if not privatisation. While used to operating in the goldfish bowl that comes with public ownership, Scottish Water would no doubt love to be left to get on with the business of providing an efficient service to customers rather than being a political football. The big risk is that the SNP’s spending and tax plans could see the Scottish Government run out of cash, forcing a sale of assets including Scottish Water. Could Business Stream be first under the hammer? Regulator Wics has already hinted the retail operation might thrive under private ownership and although it wouldn’t fetch much compared with the asset-rich Scottish Water it could be a useful test of public sentiments on privatisation
