§ 8. Dr. Kim HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the chairman of the National Rivers Authority to discuss water quality in Wales.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesMy right hon. Friend and his officials regularly have meetings with the chairman and 8 officers of the National Rivers Authority to discuss water quality and other matters associated with the discharge of the authority's functions in Wales.
§ Dr. HowellsThe Minister's constituency shares a river with mine, the River Taff. If he is that confident about the quality of the water in the Taff, which I am not, does he agree that improvements to water quality should be speeded up, that we have treated our rivers for long enough as open sewers and that everyone who dumps effluent in the river, including Welsh Water, should be pursued ruthlessly by the NRA and fined? If he is, as he often says that he is, pleased with the improvement in water quality will he come to my constituency, where I promise that I will have my constituents line the banks of the River Taff to watch him take a running jump into it?
§ Mr. JonesI think that I shall decline the hon. Gentleman's last offer, but I would go along with the general sentiment that he expresses. We all want to see further and continuing improvements. Already, there have been substantial improvements and 94 per cent. of river quality in Wales is at least of a good or fair standard, and that is a net improvement over the last time. I have also noticed that there has been a useful improvement—a significant population of migratory salmon and trout in the Taff—which I should like to see continue.