§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the figures for the volume of water abstracted from rivers and boreholes, and the limits in the relevant licences, are in the public domain, and if not why not.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Strathclyde)In England and Wales, the limit on the amount of water that may be abstracted under a water abstraction licence is contained in the registers of such licences which the National Rivers Authority (NRA) must keep in accordance with Section 189 of the Water Resources Act 1991, and which are open to the public.52WA Information on actual levels of water abstraction is collected by the NRA under Section 201 of that Act and is therefore covered by Section 204 of the Act, which makes it unlawful to disclose information obtained by virtue of the provisions of the Act which relates to the affairs of an individual or a particular business without the consent of that individual or business. We are considering whether it might be possible, and (if so) appropriate, to use Section 201 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (publication of certain information) to make more information available on this question. There are no comprehensive systems of water abstraction licensing in Scotland and Northern Ireland.