§ Mr. LAMBasked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the pollution of the River Penk by the corporation of Wolverhampton has been going on for some seven years notwithstanding the protests of the Staffordshire County Council and others; that, after local inquiries held from time to time by the Ministry of Health, certificates have been issued giving the Wolverhampton Corporation special protection under their private Act of 1891 from the provisions of the Public Health Acts and the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act; that prior to 1921 such certificates were given for a period of two years, and that since then, owing to the representation of the Staffordshire County Council and others that the best and only available means of dealing with the sewage were not being used, such certificates have only been given for a period of one year until April last, when after a further inquiry and after strong opposition a certificate was given for only three months; that immediately after the last certificate was issued the corporation of Wolverhampton released a large quantity of crude sewage matter, which had been held up pending the granting of such certificate, thereby polluting the River Penk so as to make it highly offensive to all riparian residents, destroying all fish life throughout its entire course, and entailing risk of damage to lands and cattle over a large area; that, on the Wolverhampton Corporation being summoned by the Trent Fishery Board, the local bench of magistrates decided that they were bound to dismiss the summons owing to the protection afforded by the certificate at present in force; and whether, in view of the period of seven years during which it has been recognised that the Wolverhampton Corporation's method of dealing with their sewage has been unsatisfactory, and which has now become so ineffective that the River Penk, even in its lower reaches, cannot support fish life or be used for agriculture, he will refuse to give the Wolverhampton Corporation further protection under their private Act, so that adequate pressure can be brought upon the corporation to abate the nuisance?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave yesterday to a question on this subject500W by the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Mr. Wardlaw-Milne).