§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of the land drainage survey by Section 24 of the Water Act 1973; and if he will seek to postpone this survey.
§ Mr. StrangThe preparation of these surveys is one of many duties placed on water authorities by the Water Act 1973 and no separate estimate has been made of the cost. Their purpose is to establish the priorities that should govern the planning of land drainage and the allocation of resources to individual land drainage projects. For this reason my right hon. Friend is not prepared to postpone them. My Department is, however, ready to discuss with individual water authorities the form and content of the surveys in order to produce the most useful results within the resources which can reasonably be made available.