§ 3.25 p.m.
EARL ST. ALDWYNMy Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is making a Statement to-day in another place on water services reorganisation. It has been agreed through the usual channels that, because of the important Business that we have ahead of us to-day, it would be for the convenience of the House if that Statement was not repeated here but was circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT, which, with the leave of the House, I will arrange to do. Copies of the Statement will also be available in the Printed Paper Office. The Procedure Committee gave their blessing to this new procedure for dealing with Statements in the Seventh Report of last Session, and I hope your Lordships will agree that we should make use of it to-day.
§ Following is the Statement referred to:
§ "With permission, Mr. Speaker. I would like to make a statement about Water Services Reorganisation. I have to tell the House that the long-term prospects for water supply in this country, and for maintaining and improving the quality of our rivers, give rise to serious concern. The massive increase in demand, coupled with increases in the quantity and range of pollutants, face us with a most 477 exacting task. My right honourable friends and I have reached the conclusion that the way in which responsibilities for managing water are distributed at present imposes a handicap which can no longer be accepted and that a comprehensive reshaping of the machinery is called for.
§ "As the report of the Central Advisory Water Committee made plain, responsibility in this field is fragmented between more than 1,400 different bodies. For many years they have discharged their duties well. But too often their interests conflict and very many of them arc far too small. The Government intend to create 10 Regional Water Authorities, including one for Wales, which will be able to deal with water services as a whole, literally from the source to the tap. The Regional Water Authorities' functions will include the prevention and control of polluting discharges to rivers and estuaries; augmentation of river flows by schemes of storage; treatment of water for public use; and dealing with sewage. At the same time they will have a duty to ensure the full development for amenity and recreation of our rivers, canals and, wherever appropriate, reservoirs.
§ "The new Regional Water Authorities will replace the present joint water boards and joint sewerage boards. They will assume the responsibilities of those water undertakings still owned by local authorities together with the obligations of local authorities for sewage disposal.
§ "Local authorities will continue to have local sewerage functions other than those that arc necessary for the R.W.A.s' efficient discharge of their duties. In view of the local authorities' clear interest in water supply and pollution control I have decided that a substantial proportion of the members of each Regional Water Authority will be appointed by local government.
§ "We arc proposing to retain statutory water companies, which can continue to play a valuable part within the new system. I expect suitable arrangements to be made for them to supply water as agents of the Regional Water Authorities.
§ "The responsibility exercised by the present river authorities for water conservation, pollution control, navigation and recreation will he assumed by the Regional Water Authorities. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will be undertaking consultations with the interested bodies on the future organisation of land drainage and fisheries, which lay outside the terms of reference of the Central Advisory Water Committee's report. He has asked me to say however that the present proposals do not require a review of the responsibilities of internal drainage boards.
§ "As suggested in the Committee's report, the responsibilities of the British Waterways Board for canals and certain rivers will be transferred to the Regional Water Authorities. I am convinced that, in conjunction with local authorities, they can build upon the valuable 478 work the Board has done, in particular by adapting the present canal system to one more directly designed for amenity and recreation. Special arrangements will be made for the Board's canals in Scotland.
§ "The Chairmen of the Regional Water Authorities, together with a chairman and other members chosen by Ministers, as having special knowledge of industrial, agricultural, amenity and other matters, will form a National Water Council. This Council together with the Regional Water Authorities will continue and develop the valuable work done by the Water Resources Board.
§ "Apart from cases where Exchequer grants may be justified for specific purposes, the revenue to enable the new authorities to discharge these functions should, in principle, come from charges for the services they provide.
§ "I have placed in the Vote Office copies of a Circular and a memorandum explaining these proposals which is being sent out to-day to all the bodies concerned. Accompanying this is a map showing the boundaries we are proposing for Regional Water Authorities.
§ "My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Wales is making a separate announcement about reorganisation in Wales, and about the special arrangements that will he made to safeguard both English and Welsh interests in the Anglo-Welsh rivers.
§ We now propose to hold consultations with the bodies concerned within these broad principles. Our aim will be to introduce legislation to enable the new system to come into operation in April,1974, concurrently with the new local authorities. Staff interests will be safeguarded, and there will he full consultation on all the arrangements for the transfer and protection of staff.
§ "Mr. Speaker, the time has come when we must stop taking our water resources for granted. Water is too scarce; it costs too much to collect, transport and distribute any longer to he wasted, polluted or fenced off from recreational use. The Government's proposals are therefore radical and far-reaching.
§ "They are designed to create the conditions and to provide the necessary modern machinery for the cleaning up of our rivers, the improvement of our sewerage and sewage disposal arrangements, and the safeguarding of the nation's water supplies for the remainder of this century. As such I hope that these proposals will contribute to the Government's general policy of safeguarding our national environment and improving the quality of life."