Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2017
It is certainly an environmental point, if I can put it like that. Maurice Golden will go on to deal with the question—that is a hospital pass, if ever there was one.
There is a need to go further. Although the report sets out clear areas where there have been significant achievements, we on these benches feel that there are other important areas that have not been covered by the report. For example, there continues to be a concern over pharmaceutical pollution, which is largely caused by the improper disposal of medicines and human excreta. The non-profit organisation Health Care Without Harm states that many waste water treatment facilities are unable to completely filter our many of those pharmaceutical drugs and, as a result, those pollutants can impact land and other surface waters. Similarly, there are issues with the number of PCB—polychlorinated biphenyl—chemicals that are not able to be removed from waste water.
The cabinet secretary mentioned a local issue in my region that I am acutely aware of. I have dealt with several cases on behalf of my constituents concerning the difficulty that many people who live in remote communities have with getting their property connected to the mains water supply network. If they cannot have that done, they must rely on a private supply where the water quality and flow can often be an issue. I press the cabinet secretary to work hard for people in that position. Although there are obvious logistical and financial challenges, if we are to have a truly inclusive water economy, we should not forget the needs for everyone resident in Scotland when it comes to accessing a safe and reliable water supply
I will end by reiterating that, although there are some areas that need improvement, the Scottish Conservatives are confident that good progress is being made in a number of areas, and we commend the Scottish Government and its agencies for facilitating that progress.
I move amendment S5M-98378.1, to insert at the end:
“; recognises that the current level of phosphorus and priority substance recovery from waste water is not desirable; agrees that river basin management and flood-risk management could be improved in order to improve water quality and reduce the impact of flooding, and believes that the market for business customers is imperfect and needs to be more competitive”.
15:50