§ Mr. Watsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has reached any conclusion on the proposals for the future organisation of the water industry contained in the White Paper "The Water Industry in England and Wales: the next Steps", Cmnd. 6876.
§ Mr. KingThe Government are satisfied that the underlying philosophy of unified river basin management of water services is right and should remain. We are not however proceeding with the establishment of a national water authority as proposed in the previous288W Government's White Paper or the associated transfer to the water industry of the Central Water Planning Unit, which will accordingly be wound up. There is a range of other matters in the White Paper on which we have not yet taken a view, and these will be discussed in detail with the National Water Council and the other interests concerned.