DIRECTIONS TO WATER AUTHORITIES (Hansard, 17 July 1973)

§ Mr. Graham Page
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
The amendment requires the appropriate Minister or Ministers to consult the National Water Council before giving a direction to water authorities generally under Clause 5. As the council will be the collective voice of the water authorities, this requirement is clearly appropriate. The amendment implements an undertaking which I believe I gave on a similar amendment in Committee. It was merely a matter of getting the wording right.

§ Mr. Denis Howell
I am not sure that the Minister did give an undertaking, although many of the amendments before us are the result of the Government honouring undertakings. Perhaps I can at this point express collective appreciation for them. But I do not think that Lords Amendment No. 11 was such a case, because we raised the matter on Report. I think rather that it is a concession, which means that our gratitude is compounded, and we are grateful to the Government for it.
It is obvious that the amendment is of importance to the National Water Council and gives it a little more bite, which is what we have urged throughout. Clearly, the council should be a genuine central body. I am, however, worried about the limitation which might be involved in the word "generally". The right hon. Gentleman proposes that the council shall be consulted on any general matters 415 on which the Minister wishes to issue a directive. Is that a limitation?
We shall come to the question of new boundaries later on, but perhaps I may make my point now instead of then. One would think, for example, that the council might be consulted on more specific matters affecting each of the various water authorities. I said on Report that I would like the council to be able to tell the Minister if it thought that certain boundaries were wrong and needed changing, and there are many other such examples.
I content myself with questioning whether the word "generally" is not rather inhibiting, and I seek an assurance from the right hon. Gentleman that this does not merely involve matters on which he will give general directions but that the water authorities, with the council, will be consulted on more specific matters where appropriate.

§ Mr. Graham Page
Clause 5 deals with general directions. It begins: The Minister may give water authorities directions of a general character …". We contemplate that the Minister will be giving directions of a specific or detailed character to the water authorities. We wish them to be as independent as possible. Lords Amendment No. 11 is an amendment to subsection (3) of Clause 5. Subsection (3) now reads: A direction under this section may be given either to a particular water authority or to water authorities generally. The amendment will add the words: but before giving a direction to water authorities generally, the appropriate Minister or Ministers shall consult the Council about the proposed direction. We contemplate a direction which has some policy factor in it—a general direction—rather than a particular assistance to one water authority.