§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the latest long-term water quality objectives and the timetables for achieving them adopted by each authority for both inland and tidal waters.
§ Mr. John PattenThe responsibility for drawing up detailed water quality objectives and the timetables for their implementation rests with the individual water authorities. Generally there, is extensive public consultation and the reports are available to interested parties and published. An overriding consideration is that the objectives reflect the national policy that authorities should maintain and improve the quality of surface waters.
There are also specific quality standards for substances and waters covered by various EC Directives, such as the fresh water fish and the dangerous substances directives. Authorities are required to observe these international obligations.