§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many drought orders his Department has granted in each year since 1979; and how many of these involved varying the conditions of abstraction.
§ Mr. BaldryThe Secretary of State for the Environment has made the following numbers of drought orders:
Numbers 1980 2 1981 nil 1982 13 1983 5 1984 92 1985 nil 1986 nil 1987 nil 1988 1 1989 74 1990 65 11991 24 1 To date. Most of these involve a temporary variation in the conditions governing the abstraction of water, but only a detailed review of all 276 statutory instruments could give a precise figure: this would involve disproportionate effort.