§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received the Report of the Scottish Water Advisory Committee on the organisation of water supplies in Central Scotland.
§ Mr. NobleYes. The Report is being published this afternoon and for the convenience of hon. Members I have arranged to make copies available in the Vote Office. The Committee's main recommendations are that 53 separate local water authorities in the Counties of Dunbarton, Lanark, Stirling, West Lothian, Clackmannan, Fife and Kinross should be replaced by six new regional authorities, which will include the Cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and that a Water Development Board covering the whole area should be set up to develop major sources such as Loch Lomond. I accept the Committee'srecommendations in principle and I am writing to the authorities concerned asking them to let me know by the end of September whether they are prepared to enter into arrangements with the other authorities in their area to form the suggested regional boards. I am also sending copies of the Report to all other Scottish local water authorities