WELSH NATIONAL WATER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSTITUTION) ORDER 1973

HL Deb 26 July 1973 vol 344 cc2001-4

2.20 p.m.

THE MINISTER OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY (LORD ABERDARE) rose to move, That the Draft Welsh National Water Development Authority (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1973, laid before the House on July 19, be approved. The noble Lord said: Although the Welsh Authority will not assume responsibility for its functions until April 1, 1974, it will need to undertake a great deal of preparatory work as a matter of some urgency. Article 1 of the Order therefore provides that it shall come into operation on August 1, 1973, and Article 3(2) that the Welsh Authority shall come into existence on August 6, 1973. The noble Baroness, Lady White, on Report stage, urged us to get a move on, and were the noble Baroness present this afternoon I think she would agree that we have done so.

The constitution of the Welsh Authority is described in Article 4 of the draft Order. This is an interim constitution which will have effect until May 31, 1977, by which time consideration of the Report of the Commission on the Constitution will have enabled a decision on a final constitution of the Authority to be made. However, the interim constitution implements the undertaking given during the passage of the Bill through Parliament that if a majority of local authority members was agreed for the regional water authorities, the same would apply to the Welsh Authority, and this has been done. Article 4(1) provides for the apopintment of a chairman and 14 members by the Minister and 20 members by local authorities. I am sure that your Lordships will have noticed with pleasure that the Secretary of State for Wales has announced his intention to appoint my noble friend Lord Brecon as Chairman of the Authority. His wide experience and knowledge will be a great asset.

Of the 14 members nominated by the Minister, 4 will be appointed jointly by the Secretary of State for Wales and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for their experience in respect of agriculture, land drainage or fisheries. In view of the close association of agricultural interests with the water supply in Wales it seems appropriate to have four members, which is the same as that for the largest of the regional water authorities. The remaining 10 member appointed by the Secretary of State will he chosen for their experience in such matters as industry and management, labour relations, amenity, recreation and sport, tourism and consumer affairs. Various bodies representing such interests in Wales have been consulted about possible appointments. In providing for local authority membership the proposed constitution, broadly speaking, follows the criteria set out in Section 3 of the Act although not following completely the population criteria set out in Section 3(6). It has been considered more appropriate to treat all counties alike, and the draft provides that each of the Welsh counties and the two English counties lying wholly or partly in the Welsh Authority's area shall appoint one member, and districts within each county shall between them appoint one member. I am sure that with the constitution provided in this draft Order the Welsh Authority will be able to carry out, efficiently and with proper regard to all concerned, the management of water in Wales and I ask the House to approve that the Order as drafted be made.

Moved, That the Draft Welsh National Water Development Authority (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1973, laid before the House on July 19, be approved.—(Lord Aberdare).

2.25 p.m.

LORD GARNSWORTHY

My Lords, may I first express an apology on behalf of the noble Baroness, Lady White, who is unable to be present this afternoon. I think that the only reason she asked me to speak was because I worked with her and with the noble Lord, Lord Champion, on the Water Bill. Had I not been asked to speak by the noble Baroness I do not think that I should have had the temerity to speak on a Welsh matter. May I, from this side, express a warm welcome to this Order. I take note of what the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, said regarding the request for urgency made by my noble friend Baroness White. We appreciate the care with which the noble Lord has introduced this Order and we are grateful to him for fulfilling an assurance that he gave at an earlier debate. We are appreciative of the speed with which he has moved. We are glad to see that this is an interim Order, effective until only 1977, by which time we hope we shall have the Report of the Crowther/Kilbrandon Commission on the Constitution, and in the light of that Report will possibly be able to consider afresh the position of the Welsh National Water Authority. My saying that may give an indication that that issue will be raised.

In taking note of what the noble Lord said with regard to the appointment of the noble Lord, Lord Brecon, as Chairman designate, we would offer to the noble Lord, Lord Brecon, our felicitations, and our hope that he will find the appointment not only congenial, but thoroughly satisfying, and that he will be as successful as anyone could hope. However, I must say from this side that we regard his appointment, with all the good wishes that we have expressed, as a straightforward political appointment. The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, has told us the name of the Chairman; I wonder whether it is possible for him to give us the names of any other members, because this body comes into being as early as August 6, which is very close. Even if local authority nominations are not settled, at least one would hope that ministerial appointments could be announced, if not to-day, within the next day or two. Having said that, I repeat that we welcome the Order and express appreciation to the noble Lord for the way in which he has introduced it.

LORD ABERDARE

My Lords, I should just like to say croeso to the noble Lord—welcome to the select band of those of us who speak on Welsh affairs. Having broken the ice, he will, I hope, continue to join with us. I know that my noble friend Lord Brecon will be pleased to have the good wishes of the noble Lord. I can only briefly assure the noble Lord that it is not a political appointment. We considered that my noble friend was outstandingly well-qualified to do this particular job. I am afraid I cannot give the noble Lord the names of the members of the authority as yet, but I can assure him that as soon as they are known I will (it is probably more appropriate) convey them to the noble Baroness, Lady White.

On Question, Motion agreed to.