§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will extend the remit of the Environment Agency to include responsibility for critical ordinary water courses to main rivers. [64804]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 27 June 2002]We recently consulted on a Review of Flood and Coastal Defence Funding including a number of options for streamlining the service. These included the possibility of transferring to the EA responsibility for watercourses presenting the most significant flood risk. We have received nearly 300 responses to the consultation, and will be considering these and our conclusions through the summer and autumn.