§ 54. Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what indication he gave before deciding to make an Order under Section 9 (2) of the Water Act, 1945, constituting a joint board to cover the Halifax County Borough and six other water undertakings, to the authorities concerned that the arrangements, including the setting-up of an inter-authority working party, which they had adopted in order to constitute such a board themselves were unsatisfactory; and what attempt he made, before communicating his decision to constitute the joint board himself, to discover from the authorities concerned what progress had in fact been made.
§ Mr. H. BrookeAt the time when I told the authorities that I proposed to make an Order myself, the information I had from Halifax Corporation was that it felt unable to give any undertaking about the rate of progress of the working party and that it anticipated that action would have to be suspended from time to time. A letter has just been received from the Corporation, however, dated 27th April, indicating that some progress is now being made. I welcome this, and on the clear understanding that the local work will be pressed forward I am ready to suspend action on my own Order. I am writing to all the authorities concerned to tell them so.