§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each water company supplying water to domestic customers in England, the supply zones where one or more drinking water inspectorate sample in 1991 exceeded 10 micrograms of lead per litre of water; arid if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is not readily available in the form requested and could he made available only at disproportionate cost. However I draw the hon. Member's attention to "Drinking Water 1991", the second annual report by the chief drinking water inspector, and to the document, "Nitrate, Pesticides and Lead, 1989 and 1990", published by the drinking water inspectorate in July 1992. These reports contain considerable information about lead concentration in water supplies. I regret that the hon. Member has misinterpreted information from these documents in his report "Poison in the Pipeline?"