HC Deb 01 July 1948 vol 452 cc2354-5
29. Mr. Hurd

asked the Minister of Health what progress is being made with the National Survey of Water Resources which his Department has in hand; and, particularly, whether information has now been gathered about the best means of providing ample water storage for London in times of drought.

Mr. Bevan

Detailed surveys of demands and resources by my engineering inspectors have been completed or are in progress for the greater part of the country. It has not been considered necessary to undertake a similar survey for the London area, since a great deal of information on the subject is already available from other sources.

Mr. Hurd

Will not the Minister make the fullest information available to local water authorities, including the Metropolitan Water Board, so that when they are proposing further projects they will have more reliable information on which to work?

Mr. Bevan

Certainly.

Mr. Nicholson

Does the central survey body meet constantly? How often does it meet? Is it the intention of the right hon. Gentleman's Department that the water supplies of the country should derive from a national rather than a regional angle?

Mr. Bevan

It would be much easier to get water resources from a national rather than a regional angle if legislation for which the party opposite are responsible had been better.

Mr. Nicholson

That may be a very clever reply, but I would be grateful if the right hon. Gentleman would answer my question.

Mr. Bevan

It is an apt reply. It is one of the defects of the existing water supplies that water cannot yet be regarded from a national angle but must be regarded from a regional angle. These surveys are in continuous operation, and the reports are available.