HC Deb 17 November 1949 vol 469 cc2184-5
17. Mr. Hurd

asked the Minister of Health if, after his consultations with the Metropolitan Water Board, he can now make a statement on the Enborne Valley reservoir project.

44. Mr. Donner

asked the Minister of Health whether, as the inhabitants of the Enborne Valley have been kept in anxiety for some 18 months regarding the fate of their homes and farms, he has now finished his consultation with the Metropolitan Water Board; and if, arising out of the declaration by the Works and Stores Committee of the Metropolitan Water Board that both the original and modified schemes should be abandoned, he will now make a statement on the whole matter.

Mr. Bevan

No, Sir. The Board have supplied me with copies of the reports made by their technical and scientific advisers and these are being examined.

Mr. Hurd

Surely, the Minister will recognise that this continuing delay is causing real distress to the people of the Enborne Valley, and will he set some time limit to the powers of investigation by the Metropolitan Water Board?

Mr. Bevan

I hope to receive the final report on this case by the end of the month.

Mr. Donner

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this continuing delay is most unfair to the inhabitants, and would he urge the Socialist majority on the Metropolitan Water Board to bring this uncertainty to an end?

Mr. Bevan

As the House knows, in this matter the Minister has a judicial function to discharge, and I cannot express any views about the merits of a particular scheme until I have done so. There is nothing unusual about this; it was all quite normal before the war.

Mr. Harrison

In view of the concern expressed by the committee investigating reservoir capacity, will my right hon. Friend make a statement on piped water supplies in this country in general?

Mr. Bevan

That is another issue entirely.