§ Mr. Andrew MacKayasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish his proposals for modernising water and sewerage law.
§ Mr. John PattenAs promised in Cmnd. 9734 "Privatisation of the Water Authorities in England and Wales", I have today published a consultation paper outlining our proposals for modernising the law and have placed copies in the Library. Reform is long overdue and I believe our proposals will benefit both consumers, by resolving some common causes of complaint, and water authorities, by enabling them to operate more efficiently. We would welcome comments on the proposals and they should be sent to the Department by 30 May.