§ Mr. Ken HargreavesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for regulations in respect of private water supplies.
§ Mr. TrippierWe have issued today a consultation paper seeking views on proposals for regulations dealing194W with the duties and functions of local authorities in respect of private water supplies. This has been published jointly by my Department, the Scottish Office Environment Department and the Welsh Office. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The consultation paper proposes that regulations should specify the information that local authorities are able to obtain in respect of private supplies in their areas and should require local authorities to prepare and maintain a register of such supplies. Proposals are made about the different classes into which private supplies should be allocated, the parameters for which each class of supply should be monitored, and the frequencies at which local authorities should carry out sampling and analysis in order to determine whether supplies comply with the requirements of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 and the parallel Scottish regulations. The paper puts forward proposals for maximum charges that local authorities would be able to make for carrying out sampling and analysis. It is intended that regulations should come into effect on 1 July 1991 and that local authorities should begin to monitor private supplies from 1 October 1991.