§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each of the past three years the number of meetings (a) of the Welsh water authority and (b) of committees and sub-committees of the Welsh water authority to which the public has had a statutory right of access in whole or in part under the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe provisions of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 extend to all meetings of the Welsh water authority and its committees, but not to their sub-committees. I understand from the Welsh Water Authority that the number of meetings of(a) the Authority and (b) their committees were 6 and 121 respectively in 1979–80,9 and 109 respectively in 1980–81 and 6 and 90 respectively in 1981–82. The newly-constituted Welsh water authority was established on 1 April 1982 and, although final figures will not be available until the end of the financial year, it is understood that there has been a considerable reduction in meetings of committees of the authority during this current year.