Scottish Water and its partners have completed the signing of the formal contract which will launch its new joint venture project delivery arm for the 2010 to 2015 investment period.

The new Scottish Water Solutions, a joint venture company bringing together Scottish Water with Laing O’Rourke Infrastructure Ltd, Veolia Water UK Plc, and Jacobs UK Ltd, will deliver in excess of £450 million of Scottish Water’s new Capital Investment Programme, which itself is one of the largest in the UK water industry at £2.5 billion.

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Climate Change Stewart Stevenson said: "This is the beginning of another chapter in the Scottish Water success story which demonstrates how public ownership has been good for both it and its customers, with average household bills in Scotland being less than the average bill in England and Wales.

"I welcome this new joint venture which will enable Scottish Water - which plays a vital role in protecting public health, improving the environment and enabling development - to roll out its new investment programme and further support Scotland’s economic recovery.”

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It is the aim of this new investment programme to continue that good work and put Scottish Water on a par with the best in the UK water industry.

Scottish Water Solutions will be led by Chief Operating Officer, Nigel Earnshaw, who has been seconded from his role as Director for Veolia Water Scotland. With the launch of the new venture he said: “We are delighted that Scottish Water has put their trust in us to deliver a substantial part of their capital programme and we look forward to working in partnership with them to improve the water services infrastructure for the benefit of Scottish Water customers.”

An Early Start agreement has already been entered into following the ‘Preferred Bidder’ stage of the agreement. This has enabled the partners to start development work on the projects and this will in turn help Scottish Water to mitigate the historic dip in investment normally associated with the start of large scale delivery programmes. This will also help contractors and equipment suppliers by keeping order volumes reasonably stable.

Geoff Aitkenhead, Scottish Water’s Asset Management Director and Solutions’ chairman said: "Work that Scottish Water promoted in the Early Start programme has enabled us to clearly define the programme of works to be delivered by Solutions and this initiative has played a significant part in allowing us to continue delivering tangible benefits to our customers."

During the 2010-2015 delivery plan Scottish Water’s £2.5 Billion investment will continue to focus on driving up performance in drinking water quality and protecting the natural environment, along with service improvements such as reducing interruptions to supply.

The joint venture will be central to delivering on these objectives.

(GK/BMcC)