§ 6. Mr. Roderickasked the Secretary of State for Wales by what date he expects the Water Equalisation Bill to affect the payments made by consumers in Wales.
§ Mr. Alec JonesSubject to the will of Parliament, I hope that the Bill will reach the statute book in time to affect domestic consumers' bills in Wales in the next financial year.
§ Mr. RoderickIs my hon. Friend aware that the Bill will receive the warmest of welcomes in Wales? Charges for water have been a sore point for some time. I appreciate the difficulties involved. However, will my hon. Friend press for a greater degree of equalisation than is envisaged in the consultative document which was published earlier this year?
§ Mr. Alec JonesI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his welcome for the Bill. I am sure that it will be welcomed by domestic water consumers in Wales. The present system of equalisation will, by its very nature, run out in time. That is why we propose to ask the new central body to envisage a more permanent system of equalisation charges affecting Wales.
§ Mr. D. E. ThomasWill the Under-Secretary tell us—if not today, at least when the Bill is brought forward— 8 whether the greater benefit to be obtained by charging an economic rate for the export of water from the Welsh National Water Development Authority's area to areas in the Midlands of England will be made available to the Authority?
§ Mr. Alec JonesI know that the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues are great ones for wanting to charge for water. The majority view in this House and in Wales is that we need to secure fairness between water consumers in Wales and in England. The charging policy advocated by the hon. Gentleman is a positive disincentive to building urgently needed reservoirs in Wales and in other parts of the United Kingdom.