§ [The references are to Bill [78] as first printed for the House of Commons.]
§ Clause 1, page 2, line 22, after ("Food") insert ("and, in the case of anything falling to be done by the Ministers, means those Ministers")
§ Clause 2, page 2, line 43, leave out from ("subsection") to end of line 4 on page 3 and insert ("an inland water which either—
- (a) is a lake, pond or reservoir which does not discharge to any other inland water, or
- (b) is one of a group of two or more lakes, ponds or reservoirs (whether near to or distant from each other) and of watercourses or mains connecting them, where none of the inland waters in the group discharges to any inland water outside the group")
§ page 3, line 6, leave out from ("Act") to end of line 8.
§ Clause 3, page 3, line 18, after ("and") insert ("subject to the following provisions of this section")
§ Clause 3, page 3, line 24, leave out ("under") and insert ("by virtue of this section or of section 10 of")
§ Clause 3, page 3, line 48, at end insert ("for the purposes of the functions of river boards relating to land drainage.
§ (7) The provisions of Schedule (Seaward boundaries of river authority areas) to this Act shall have effect for the purposes of this section")
§ Clause 6, page 4, line 44, at end insert ("generally or as being qualified in respect of 1042 the protection of land against erosion or encroachment by the sea or any other particular aspects of land drainage")
§ Clause 6, page 5, line 12, leave out("relating to that subject") and insert ("which relate to that subject as it affects the area of the river authority")
§ Clause 7, page 6, line 39, at end insert ("and where two or more local authority members are to be appointed by the council of a county, the council (subject to the last preceding subsection) shall, so far as may be practicable, select persons each of whom has local associations with a different county district or group of county districts, having regard to the appropriate penny rate product for the relevant area of each county district council for the relevant year")
§ Clause 8, page 7, line 21, after ("member") insert ("or members")
§ Leave out lines 23 and 24.
§ Clause 9, page 8, line 5, leave out from ("as") to end of line 7 and insert ("apart from this subsection, those waters and parts of the sea would not be included in the river authority area for the purposes of the enactments relating to fisheries")
§ Clause 9, page 8, line 19, leave out from ("as") to end of line 21 and insert ("apart from subsection, those waters and parts of the sea would not be included in the river authority area for the purposes of the enactments relating to river pollution")
§ Clause 9, page 8, line 30, at end insert—
§ ("(5) Nothing in this section shall affect the construction of any reference in this Act to a river authority area, other than any such reference in this section or in Schedule 2 to this Act.")
§ Clause 11, page 9, line 35, leave out ("waiters") and insert ("watercourses")
§ Clause 11, page 9, line 40, leave out subsections (3) to (5) and insert—
§ ("(3) Where any of the following events occurs, that is to say—
- (a) by an order under the last preceding section a river authority is established for a new area designated in the order, or
- (b) by an order under that section the area of a river authority is altered so as to affect any of the particulars shown on a main river map, or
- (c) a scheme under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 is confirmed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
§ (4) Subject to the next following subsection, the action to be taken by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the circumstances mentioned in the last preceding subsection shall be such action, either—
- (a) by requiring a river authority to send to him a main river map kept by the authority, and altering the map and sending it back to the river authority, or
- (b) by preparing a new map and sending it to a river authority, and, where a main
1043 river map is already kept by that authority, directing that the new map is to be in substitution for that map,
- (i) showing by a distinctive colour the extent to which any watercourse in the area is to be treated as the main river, or part of the main river, for the purposes of Part II of the Land Drainage Act 1930, and
- (ii) indicating (by a distinctive colour or otherwise) which (if any) of those watercourses are watercourses designated in a scheme made under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961.
§ (5) Before altering a map, or preparing a new map, under the last preceding subsection, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food shall give notice of his intention to do so in such manner as he thinks best adapted for informing persons affected, and shall consider any objections made to him within the time and in the manner specified in that notice, and may then alter or prepare the map, whether in accordance with the proposals contained in the notice or otherwise:
§ Provided that this subsection shall not apply to the variation of a main river map (whether by way of altering the map or preparing a new map in substitution for it) where the variation is limited to that required in consequence of the confirmation of a scheme under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961.")
§ Clause 11, page 10, line 26, leave out from ("of") to end of line 27 and insert ("the main river map kept by the authority")
§
Clause 11, page 10, line 30, leave out paragraph (a) and insert—
("(a) if he intends to vary the map, whether in accordance with the proposals contained in the application or otherwise, shall give notice of his intention to do so in such manner as he thinks best adapted for informing persons affected, and shall consider any objections made to him within the time and in the manner specified in that notice, and may then vary the map, whether in accordance with the proposals contained in the notice or otherwise.")
§ Clause 11, page 10, line 41, leave out ("last preceding subsection") and insert (preceding provisions of this section")
§ Clause 11, page 11, line 9, leave out from beginning to ("be") in line 10 and insert ("(b) if it is a main river may, shall")
§ Clause 11, page 11, line 19, at end insert—
§ ("(10) In this section 'main river map' means a map sent to a river authority under this section, otherwise than under subsection (1) thereof, in the form in which that map is for the time being in force.")
§
Clause 12, page 12, line 22, at end insert—
("(f) to bring to the notice of the river authority concerned any case where it appears to the Board that, for the purpose of securing the proper use of water resources in a river authority area, the
1044
quality of the water contained in an inland water in that area needs to be improved, and that the requisite improvement could be obtained through the exercise of powers conferred by the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts 1951 to 1961.")
§ Clause 11, page 11, line 40, at end insert—
§ ("(5) In the performance of their functions under this section, it shall be the duty of the Board to keep themselves informed as to the requirements, in respect of the supply of water, of such classes of users of water as are likely to make major demands on the water water resources of river authority areas.")
§ Clause 11, page 11, line 41, leave out ("(4)") and insert ("(5)")
§ Clause 14, page 14, line 35, leave out from ("shall") to ("revise") in line 36 and insert ("in accordance with the next following subsection, from time to time")
§ Clause 14, page 14, line 42, at end insert—
§ ("(3) A river authority shall carry out revisions in pursuance of the last preceding subsection at intervals of not more than seven years, and, subject to that requirement, at such times as they consider appropriate, having particular regard to the times at which like revisions are proposed to be carried out by other river authorities.")
§ Clause 14, page 15, line 6, leave out ("Minister") and insert ("Ministers")
§ Clause 14, page 15, line 6, leave out ("and")
§ Clause 14, page 15, line 7, after ("Board") insert ("and to the council of every county or county borough any part of which is comprised in the river authority area")
§
Clause 15, page 16, line 13, at end insert—
("Provided that the Board shall not approve a scheme with modifications except after consultation with the river authority concerned.")
§ Clause 15, page 16, line 24, after second ("Board") insert ("after consultation with the river authority concerned")
§ Clause 17, page 17, line 26, after ("apply") insert ("to any gauge installed for the sole purpose of indicating the level of an inland water for the benefit of persons who fish in it, or")
§ Clause 18, page 17, line 41, leave out ("with the consent of") and insert ("after consultation with")
§
Clause 19, page 19, line 16, leave out ("and") and insert—
("(e) any navigation authority, harbour authority or conservancy authority having functions in relation to any other inland water, where it appears to the river authority that changes in the flow of the inland water in question may affect the flow of that other inland water, or, if that other inland water is a tidal water and there is no such navigation authority, harbour authority or conservancy authority, the Minister of Transport; and")
§ Clause 19, page 19, line 28 leave out ("fishing")
§ Clause 19, page 19, line 28 leave out ("navigation")
1045§ Clause 19, page 19, line 30, after ("drainage") insert ("navigation and fisheries")
§ Clause 21, page 20, line 31, after first ("Board") insert ("and the river authority by whom the statement was submitted")
§ Clause 21, page 20, line 43, leave out from ("time") to ("any") in line 2 on page 21 and insert ("himself prepare proposals for amending")
§
Clause 21, page 21, line 6, at end insert—
("Provided that, before preparing proposals under this subsection with respect to any inland water, the Minister, except where he is acting on the application of the river authority in whose area the inland water is situated, shall consult that river authority and the Water Resources Board.")
§ LORD HASTINGSMy Lords, I am afraid the number of Amendments which have come to us from another place are too many and varied for me to deal with all at the same time, and I think it is agreeable to the House, so far as I have been able to ascertain, that we should deal with them in this way. Amendments Nos. 1 to 40 concern Parts I, II and II of the Bill and, without wasting your Lordships' time, I would just pinpoint one or two of the more interesting Amendments. For instance, Nos. 4, 5 and 6 with Nos. 12, 13 and 14 refer to a new Schedule after Schedule 1, which is Amendment 205, and these deal with the seaward boundaries of river authority areas. These boundaries have never before been fully defined for land drainage purposes under the River Boards Act, but it is now necessary because of the possibility of there being abstractions of water and the necessity of charging for those abstractions. Then, there is Amendment No. 9 which lays down that local authority members should be selected so far as possible so as to represent different districts according to rateable value. That will not be a hard and fast rule, but it will follow the way it is now in the River Boards Act, 1948.
Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 allow for the appointment of more than one member, if necessary, to represent navigational interests. At the moment, it is limited to only one. Amendment No. 22, which is an important Amendment and I think will particularly interest your Lordships, adds a specified duty to those already put upon the Water Resources Board, and this duty is that of concerning themselves with the prevention of pollution policy which is being followed 1046 by the river authorities. That is an addition to the Amendment we moved about the proper use of water, in that it is more specific. Amendments Nos. 23 and 24 also put a duty on the Board to keep in close touch with the major water interests and their demands.
To turn to Part III of the Bill, your Lordships will see that Amendment 32 fulfils an undertaking I gave to my noble friend Lord Cawley about fishermen's gauges, and now it will not be necessary for fishermen to give prior notice to river authorities before installing gauges for the purpose of measuring the depth of the stream. Nos. 34 to 37 extend the necessity for consultation by the river authorities before fixing minimum acceptable flows to include navigation, harbour and conservancy authorities whose interest in one inland water may be affected by the flow in another—in other words, to which the statement relates—so that there can be no possibility of other interests being overlooked. I think those are the only matters of interest in the first Parts, and I beg to move.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Hastings.)
§ LORD LINDGRENMy Lords, we are most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hastings, for the outline he has given of this first group of Amendments, and from this side of the House we welcome them. We welcome particularly Amendments 22 and 24 which, in fact, meet a point which we put to the noble Lord during the Committee stage. Now the Water Resources Board has an interest in the quality of water, and this we think is a very big improvement so far as the Bill is concerned.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.