§ MR. WALTER HAZELL (Leicester)On behalf of the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. H. BROADHURST), I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he will consider the desirability of taking such action as may be necessary to prevent any one local authority monopolising the sources of water supply from the great watershed of the country, in order to insure equal opportunity for all communities to avail themselves of a share in this great and natural necessity of the people?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. HENRY CHAPLIN, Lincolnshire, Sleaford)I am not aware that any local authority is seeking to monopolise the sources of water supply from the great watershed of the country, nor am I quite clear as to what watershed it is that the hon. Member refers to, but such a scheme as that referred to would require express Parliamentary powers, and I have no doubt that Parliament would give any such scheme very careful consideration before assenting to it, and would have due regard to the interests of communities other than those of the authority by whom it was proposed that the water supply should be appropriated.