§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what responsibility the Standing Committee on Desalination has for the co-ordination and exploitation of the present desalination opportunities overseas and for the improvement of British technology to maintain the position of the British desalination industry in the future.
§ Mr. Denis HowellAs I informed the hon. Member in my answer of 13th January—[Vol. 923, c.558]—the Standing Committee on Desalination has been constituted as the Desalination Working Party of the Standing Technical Committee on Water Treatment. The working party has no responsibility for the coordination and exploitation of the present desalination opportunities overseas. However, under its terms of reference, the working party is required to keep under review current developments in desalination and to advise on research requirements.