HC Deb 21 April 1982 vol 22 cc260-1
8. Mr. Haselhurst

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about local government links with the water authorities; and if he will make a statement.

17. Mr. Campbell-Savours

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the North-West water authority on the consultative document relating to the structure of the water authorities.

The Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services (Mr. Tom King)

We have received over 270 responses to our consultation paper on the membership of English water authorities. A majority of these stress the need to preserve close links between water authorities and local government. These include the North-West water authority, which also favoured no change in its present membership arrangements.

We are now considering these responses.

Mr. Haselhurst

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that he is keenly aware of the concern that is felt by local authorities lest in any new arrangements their links with the water authorities should be less sound than they are at present? Will he further assure the House that he will take into account their strongly held views in reaching any final decisions on this subject?

Mr. King

I am, of course, aware of what my hon. Friend says. We put forward five options for consideration, one of which was the possibility of increased local authority representation. One of the criticisms of the present arrangements is that not all local authorities within a water authority area are represented on the authority.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

Is the Minister aware that throughout the North-West region there is unanimity about the current construction of the North-West water authority, which has 32 members, including representatives from local government? Does he accept that if he were to reduce in any way the local authority contingent on that water authority it would mean that areas such as mine in Lakeland and Cumbria would find that their rights were severely undermined by Goverment policy? Will he undertake to follow the matter very closely?

Mr. King

I hope that the hon. Gentleman is considering the problem seriously, because it does involve difficulties. He will be aware that the Monopolies and Mergers Commission drew attention to the problems of running an authority such as Thames, which has 62 members, as the board, or Severn-Trent, which has 48 members. Its estimate was that it added £1 million to the cost of committees and the administration involved with such a substantial membership. These are considerations that we must look at, and the Government are considering all the responses.

Mr. Bowden

Does my right hon. Friend realise that there is a widespread view that water authorities operate a system of taxation without representation? Will he seriously consider the possibility of bringing in a system of directly elected members to those authorities?

Mr. King

That option has been advanced by others on previous occasions. One of my concerns—I drew attention in my earlier reply to the inadequacies of the present system—is that there is rather more representation than many people realise. I am concerned about how few people have the slightest idea about who the local representative is on the local water authority. I always make it my business in correspondence to draw attention to who the local person is.

Mr. Denis Howell

Will the Minister confirm that every local authority that has been consulted on this matter wishes to retain local authority membership? That being so, will he take on board in this review the proposals that we put forward in an earlier White Paper to the effect that a national water authority should own all the water resources in the country, but that the distribution, the clean-off and the disposal should remain with the local authorities, which should be charged with putting wholesome water back into the system? Daily that appears to be a more attractive solution to the problem.

Mr. King

It was not the biggest surprise to emerge from the consultations that local authorities are in favour of keeping local authority members on the water authorities. That came as no surprise to us. We have no intention of pursuing the course of a national water authority owning all the water assets in the country.