§ Clause 56, page 50, line 22, leave out from ("the") to the end of line 27 and insert ("expenses and other amounts which, in accordance with those provisions, are debited to that account")
§ Clause 57, page 50, line 34, leave out ("(f)") and insert ("(h)")
§ Clause 59, page 52, line 30, leave out ("(4)") and insert ("(6)")
§ Page 53, line 13, leave out ("(f)") and insert ("(h")
§
Clause 64, page 59, line 42, at end insert—
("(e) as to any exceptions and modifications subject to which the provisions of subsections (3) to (5) of this section are to have effect where an interest in any of the servient land is subject to a mortgage, or is subject to a rentcharge, chief rent or other rent, payment or incumbrance.")
§
Clause 69, page 63, line 33, at end insert—
("(3) Where, on an application under section (Application by owner of fishing rights for revocation or variation of licence) of this Act, the Minister—
and notice to treat for the acquisition of the fishing rights to which the application related, or of an interest in land in which those rights are included, has been served by the river authority within the period of six months from the date on which that certificate is granted, then, for the purpose of assessing compensation in respect of any compulsory acquisition in pursuance of that notice to treat, no account shall be taken of any depreciation of the value of the fishing rights, or of the interest in question, which is applicable to the operation, in relation to that licence, of section 31(1) of this Act.
§ Subsection (11) of section (Application by owner of fishing rights for revocation or variation of licence) of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as it applies for the purposes of that section.")
1083§ Clause 70, page 64, line 11, leave out ("pipe or other work") and insert ("or pipe")
§ Clause 70, page 64, line 30, leave out ("pipe or other work") and insert ("or pipe")
§ Clause 71, page 66, line 15, leave out from second ("section") to end of line 17 and insert ("subject to the necessary modifications and, in particular, with the substitution for the reference to section 40 of this Act of a reference to subsection (4) of the last preceding section")
§ After Clause 72, insert the following new clause:—
§ Register of consents under s. 70
§ ("(1) Every river authority shall keep, in such manner as may be prescribed, a register containing such particulars as may be prescribed of consents granted by them under section 70 of this Act which are for the time being in force; and so much of the register as relates to any such consent shall, in favour of a person charged with an offence under that section, be conclusive as to the terms of the consent as it has effect for the time being, including the conditions subject to which it so has effect.
§ (2) Every register kept under this section shall be available for inspection by the public at all reasonable hours.")
§ Insert the following new clause:—
§ Emergency measures in case of pollution of waters
§ ("(1) Where it appears to a river authority that any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter is present in an inland water in the area of the river authority, and has entered that inland water in consequence of an accident or other unforeseen act or event, the river authority, subject to the following provisions of this section, may carry out such operations as the authority consider necessary or expedient for either or both of the following purposes, that is to say—
- (a) removing that matter from the inland water, and disposing of it in such manner as the authority consider appropriate, and
- (b) remedying or mitigating any pollution caused by its presence in the inland water.
§ (2) The power conferred by the preceding subsection does not include power to construct any works, other than works of a temporary character which are removed on or before the completion of the operations.
§ (3) Section 3(5) of this Act shall apply in relation to the powers conferred by this section as if they had been included among the functions of river boards transferred to river authorities by section 5 of this Act; and those powers shall be included among the transferred functions of river authorities accordingly.
§ (4) In section 127(2)(a) of this Act the reference to functions relating to river pollution includes the powers conferred by this section.
§ (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from any duty of a river authority to enforce the provisions of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts 1951 to 1961 in their area.")
1084§ Insert the following new clause:—
§ Special measures for securing proper use of water resources
§ ("(1) Any reference in this Act to action for the purpose of securing the proper use of water resources shall (without prejudice to the generality thereof) be taken to include action of any description to which this section applies for the purpose of rendering the quality of the water contained in an inland water more suitable for a particular use for which the water is required.
§ (2) This section applies to the making and (on the part of the river authority) the performance of an agreement between a river authority and a sewerage authority whereby, in consideration of payments to be made by the river authority, the sewerage authority will secure the removal to a different point, or other alteration, of an outlet from which sewage effluent (within the meaning of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act 1951) is discharged by the sewerage authority into an inland water in the area of the river authority.
§ (3) This section also applies to the carrying out by a river authority of any operations, other than engineering or building operations which are excepted from this subsection by directions given by the Minister, either to river authorities generally or to a particular river authority.")
§ Clause 74, page 69, line 13, at end insert ("other than the river authority")
§ Clause 74, page 69,line 30, leave out from ("made") to ("by") in line 31.
§
Clause 75, page 70, line 13, at end insert—
("(2) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, where the use for the purposes of any form of recreation of an inland water (not being a reservoir to which the preceding subsection applies) is for the time being regulated by byelaws made by a river authority by virtue of subsection (3) of the last preceding section, the river authority may provide, or otherwise make available, facilities for use by persons resorting to that inland water for the purposes of that form of recreation.")
§ Clause 75, page 70, line 17, leave out ("the preceding subsection") and insert ("either of the preceding subsections")
§ Clause 75, page 70, line 21, after ("(1)") insert ("or subsection (2)")
§
Clause 75, page 70, line 28, at end insert—
("(5) The expenditure incurred by a river authority in connection with the exercise of the powers conferred on them by subsection (2) of this section shall be limited so that, taking one year with another, it will not exceed the aggregate of—
§ Clause 76, page 70, line 29, leave out from ("may") to ("enter") in line 30 and insert ("subject to the next following subsection")
§
Clause 76, page 71, line 2, at end insert—
("(2) The Minister may, by a direction given either to a particular river authority or to river authorities generally, direct that, in such cases or classes of cases as are specified in the direction, the authority or authorities to whom the direction is given shall not enter into any agreement under this section except with the consent of the Minister and after prior consultation with the Water Resources Board.")
§
Clause 77, page 73, line 5, at end insert—
("(7) Where, by virtue of an order or agreement under this section, property is transferred to a river authority on the terms that—
any payment so made by the river authority shall be deemed to be a capital payment or an annual payment according as the amount in respect of which it is made was paid in or towards repayment of the loan or by way of interest thereon.")
§
Clause 78, page 73, line 23, leave out subsections (2) and (3) and insert—
("(2) There shall be carried to the credit of the water resources account of a river a uthority—
§ (3) There shall be debited to the water resources account of a river authority—
- (a) all expenses incurred and payments made by the authority in connection with their new functions, including so much of the necessary and proper establishment expenses of the authority as is attributable to those functions, but excluding any expenses which, in accordance with the
1086 following provisions of this Part of this Act are defrayed out of any reserve fund or replacement fund maintained by them and any payments made out of any sinking fund so maintained; - (b)so much of any expenses incurred and payments made by the authority, in their capacity as a drainage authority or fisheries authority, or as successors to a navigation authority, harbour authority or conservancy authority, in respect of matters contributing towards the performance of their new functions (including any amounts paid into any sinking fund maintained by them, but excluding any payments made out of such a fund) as may be determined by the river authority to be expenses or payments which ought to be debited to that account;
- (c)any amounts which, in accordance with the following provisions of this Part of this Act, are paid by the authority, out of receipts carried to the credit of that account, into any reserve fund or replacement fund maintained by them and any amounts paid by the authority out of such receipts into any sinking fund so maintained;
- (d)such part (if any) of any excess calculated under section 82(7) of this Act, and repaid by the authority in pursuance of that subsection, as has been carried to the credit of that account in accordance with paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection.
§ (4) References in this section to a river authority in their capacity as a fisheries authority are references to the river authority in their capacity as a body having functions relating to fisheries.")
§ Clause 79, page 74, leave out lines 33 and 34 and insert ("carried to the credit of their water resources account")
§ Clause 79, page 74, line 35, leave out subsection (3) and insert—
§ ("(3) Except with the consent of the Minister, no sum shall be paid into the reserve fund of a river authority so as to make the amount at any time comprised in the fund exceed ten per cent. of the aggregate amount of capital expenditure incurred by the authority and their predecessors before that time; and the amount paid into the reserve fund of a river authority in any financial year shall not, except with the consent of the Minister, exceed one per cent. of the aggregate amount of capital expenditure incurred by the authority and their predecessors before the beginning of that year.")
§ Clause 79, page 75, line 4, at end insert ("and references in this and the next following section to capital expenditure incurred before any time by the predecessors of a river authority are references—
- (a)in the case of a river authority established by virtue of section 3 of this Act to any capital expenditure incurred by the river board or boards for whose area or areas the river authority is so established, and
- (b)in the case of a river authority established by an order under section 10 of this Act, to any capital expenditure incurred
1087 before that time by a river authority whose area is wholly included in the area of that river authority, and such proportion as the Minister may determine of any capital expenditure so incurred by a river authority whose area is partly so included")
§ Clause 80, page 75, leave out lines 11 to 21 and insert ("defraying the cost of replacing or repairing any plant, machinery, vehicle or article belonging to the authority or any part of any such plant, machinery, vehicle or article")
§ Clause 80, page 75, line 22, leave out subsection (4) and insert—
§ ("(4) Except with the consent of the Minister, no sum shall be paid into the replacement fund of a river authority so as to make the amount at any time comprised in the fund exceed five per cent. of the aggregate amount of capital expenditure incurred by the authority and their predecessors before that time; and the amount paid into the replacement fund of a river authority in any financial year shall not, except with the consent of the Minister, exceed one-half of one per cent. of the aggregate amount of capital expenditure incurred by the authority and their predecessors before the beginning of that year.")
§
Clause 82, page 76, line 25, leave out from beginning to ("shall") in line 45 and insert—
("(1) For the purposes of this section the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by a river authority for any financial year shall be ascertained as follows, that is to say—
§ (2) In paragraph (b) of the preceding subsection 'relevant water resources expenditure', in relation to any financial year, means any 1088 expenditure of the river authority, and any amount paid by the authority into a replacement fund or sinking fund maintained by them, which—
- (a) is incurred or paid before the coming into operation of a charging scheme prepared by the river authority, and
- (b) is debited in respect of that year to the water resources account of the authority by virtue of any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 78(3) of this Act,
§ Provided that the Minister may in any particular case direct that, in relation to any financial year of a river authority specified in the direction, paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be disregarded, either wholly or in respect of any such expenditure or amount as may be so specified.
§ (3) Not later than the end of the month of February immediately preceding each financial year, each river authority shall estimate the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by the river authority for that year; and that amount.")
§
Page 77, line 10, at end insert—
("(3A) If at any time during a financial year it appears to a river authority that the aggregate amount for which they have issued precepts for that year will fall short of the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by the authority for that year, the authority shall estimate the amount of the deficiency; and the provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall have effect in relation to an amount estimated under this subsection as they have effect in relation to an amount estimated under subsection (3) of this section.")
§ Page 77, line 13, leave out ("in") and insert ("for")
§ Page 77, line 14, at end insert ("the whole number of")
§ Page 77, line 19, after ("of") insert ("the whole number of")
§
Page 78, line 25, at end insert—
("(9) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, each river authority shall also ascertain the actual amount which was the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by the authority for that year, and shall determine whether, and (if so) how far, the aggregate amount for which precepts have been issued by the river authority for that year exceeds or falls short of the amount ascertained under this subsection; and if the comparison under this subsection shows an excess or a deficiency, the amount of the excess or deficiency shall be brought forward to the next financial year and (if an excess) shall be deducted, or (if a deficiency) shall be added, in ascertaining the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by the river authority for that next financial year.
§ (10) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of Part I of Schedule (Transitional provisions relating to precepts and borrowing powers of river authorities) to this Act in the circumstances specified in that Part of that Schedule.")
§ Clause 83, page 78, line 33, leave out from ("account") to ("shall") in line 34.
§ Clause 83, page 78, line 36, leave out from ("account") to end of line 37.
§ Clause 83, page 78, line 38, leave out from ("any") to end of line 40 and insert ("receipts of the river authority which are paid into a replacement fund maintained by them under section 80 of this Act, to any special drainage charges levied by the authority under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961, or to any receipts of the authority in their capacity as the drainage board of an internal drainage district")
§ Clause 87, page 81, line 14, at end insert ("and a river authority shall not by virtue of paragraph (d) of that subsection have power to borrow for the purpose of making any payment to a sinking fund or of paying any instalment, or making any annual payment, which has or may become due in respect of borrowed money.
§ (4) Moneys borrowed by a river authority under subsection (2) of this section shall be charged indifferently on all the revenues of the authority except any such funds as are referred to in section 83(1) of this Act")
§ Clause 83, page 82, line 21, at end insert—
§ ("(8) The provisions of Part II of Schedule (Transitional provisions relating to precepts and borrowing powers of river authorities) to this Act shall have effect with respect to borrowing before the second appointed day.")
§ Clause 89, page 82, line 39, leave out from ("whose") to end of line 42 and insert "functions are transferred by virtue of section 5 of this Act to a river authority (in those provisions referred to as 'the authority') to whom none of the functions of any other river board are so transferred")
§ Clause 93, page 87, line 39, leave out from ("whose") to end of line 41 and insert ("functions are transferred by virtue of section 5 of this Act to a river authority to whom the functions of another river board are also so transferred")
§ Clause 93, page 88, line 2, leave out from ("whose") to end of line 5 and insert ("functions are transferred to the same river authority as mentioned in this subsection, and 'the authority' means the river authority to whom the functions of those boards are transferred")
§ LORD HASTINGSMy Lords, Amendments Nos. 122 to 162 embrace Parts V, VI, VII, VIII and IX of the Bill. It is only on the Amendments to Part VII that I have any comment to make. I would draw your Lordships' attention to Amendment No. 132, which puts a new clause into the Bill to deal with 1090 cases of accidental pollution. At the moment there are powers only for the prevention and not for the curing of pollution, under the Prevention of Pollution Acts, 1951–61. This new clause allows for emergency action to be taken by river authorities supplementary to existing powers, so that they can actually clean up the results of pollution, if it should occur, although, of course, the main philosophy is the prevention of pollution.
I come to Amendment No. 133, which imposes a new duty on the river authorities and refers to the action they must take for improving the quality of water. I think that this is a useful provision. An example of its operation is to oblige a sewage disposal works to change the point of its outfall to another point where the flow would be greater, so that the quality of water would be improved for the use of those abstracting in the area. Amendments Nos. 136 to 139 extend the powers of the river authority to provide recreational facilities on inland waters other than their own reservoirs or waters owned or managed by them where they have made by-laws for recreation. I think this would be welcome to a great many people. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Hastings.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.