Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to bring forward legislation requiring water authorities to contribute to the costs of highway reconstruction following water main bursts.
§ Mr. FreemanI have been asked to reply.
The answer is yes. The Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 contains provisions on the liability of water authorities and other undertakers to highway authorities for damage caused to the property of the highway authority. A distinction is drawn between damage caused as a consequence of the exercise of an undertaker's statutory powers and that caused as a consequence of the carrying out of a statutory duty. The law as it stands is unsatisfactory and has led to a number of disputes over the apportionment of the costs of repairing the road following a burst main. The New Roads and Street Works Bill now before Parliament would replace the 1950 Act provision with a straightforward duty on undertakers to compensate the highway authority in respect of any damage or loss suffered by the authority as a result of the execution of street works or an event such as a burst main.