Water Industry Bill [H.L.] (Hansard, 29 April 1991)

§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time.
This is the first of five Bills on the Order Paper in my name. If I may, I shall speak to all five together, and then move the outstanding four formally, together with the consequential Motion in connection with the fifth. I should like to express my appreciation, and I trust also that of the House, to the Law Commission and the draftsman, who have made such an outstanding job of this enormous consolidation exercise.
The Water Act 1989 substantially restructured the law of England and Wales relating to water. The functions which were previously combined as functions of the water authorities became divided between a new national body known as the National Rivers Authority and the companies appointed to be the new water and sewerage undertakers.
The 1989 Act made extensive amendments to the enactments relating to the functions previously vested in the water authorities and this alone made an early consolidation essential. In addition, the financing of land drainage and flood defence has been significantly modified by powers conferred for the purposes of the new system of local government finance introduced by the Local Government Finance Act 1988. This makes it desirable to consolidate the enactments relating to land drainage, even those which were only incidentally affected by the 1989 Act.
The two main Bills of the consolidation, the Water Industry Bill and the Water Resources Bill, bring together the principal legislation from the 1989 Act and elsewhere dealing with the National Rivers Authority and with the new undertakers respectively.
The 1989 Act also made provision, in connection with its other provisions, for the corporate structure and powers of the statutory water companies. These provisions, together with all the surviving legislation on the same subject from public Acts, are consolidated in the Statutory Water Companies Bill.
Until the 1989 Act, land drainage functions were vested in the water authorities, internal drainage boards and local authorities. The 1989 Act substantially amended the law relating to these functions, and the Land Drainage Bill reproduces the functions of the internal drainage boards and local authorities and the new provisions about drainage rates resulting from the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
Finally, there is the Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Bill which is ancillary to 483 the four main Bills. It deals with consequential amendments and repeals and transitional and saving provisions relating to the four Bills.
The Law Commission has, in accordance with usual practice, issued a report on the consolidation in which it makes a number of recommendations for minor technical amendments to remove anomalies and inconsistencies which came to light during the consolidation exercise.
There is a special Motion on the Order Paper relating to this consolidation. The Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Bill is an essential part of the consolidation but it is not strictly a consolidation Bill. It is most conveniently dealt with, along with the other four Bills, by the Joint Committee, but the rules of the House require that the House refer it to the Joint Committee specifically. The other Bills will go through to the Joint Committee in the ordinary course. I beg to move that the first of the five Bills be now read a second time.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, I am keenly aware of the restrictive nature of our consideration of consoli cation Bills and I certainly do not wish to trespass on the time of the House or indeed on its rules of procedure. However, there are two matters of drafting which I would wish to draw to the attention of the Joint Committee. There are also some other matters to which I should like briefly to refer. They concern issues where in our view, in regard to the possibility of a choice by the Joint Committee between the provisions which come from the later legislation—the 1989 Act in particular—and earlier legislation, perhaps the wrong decision may have been made.
The first of my two technical points refers to Clause 3 of and Schedule 1 to the Land Drainage Bill. In Clause 3(2) (g) the opportunity has not been taken in the drafting of the Bill to see that all of the electoral arrangements of internal drainage boards are regulated by Schedule 1. I propose to write to the Clerk of the Joint Committee suggesting that this possibility would not be outwith the powers of a Joint Committee for a consolidation Bill. The second issue is in Clause 12 of the Land Drainage Bill where environmental duties which apply to the Minister, to the National Rivers Authority and to internal drainage boards ought, we suggest, also to apply to local authorities which act as drainage authorities. That again is a matter where there is a choice. It would be more logical and rational for these environmental duties to apply to all drainage authorities.
It is a matter for regret that the opportunity has not been taken to resolve the issue of the special status of flood defence committees within the National Rivers Authority. They are the only committees which are not advisory committees. It is regrettable that the opportunity has not been taken to abolish the internal drainage boards, which are no longer required. It is a pity that there is no consideration of the national priorities for the funds from the Government for land drainage. It is a pity that there is no indication that the 484 priorities for works should be areas of high conservation value. Finally, it is a pity that responsibility for land drainage is not transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the Department of the Environment where so many other related obligations lie. These are points which I well understand are beyond the capacity of the Joint Committee. I shall, however, if I may, write to the Clerk to the Joint Committee to make the points which I have outlined briefly.

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, I am sure that the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills will be glad to receive the letter and to consider the matters that lie properly within the competence of that committee.