§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list(a) all areas of activity currently undertaken by the National Rivers Authority to which the duty of the National Rivers Authority to further conservation apply and (b) any specific such areas of activity or specific activities to which this duty will not apply under his current plans for an environment agency for England and Wales;
(2) if he will publish the exact wording of the clause which he intends to introduce into the Environment Agency Bill to carry forward the current duty of the National Rivers Authority to further conservation; whether this new duty will apply across the full and complete scope of activities of the proposed environment agency for England and Wales; and if he will list all duties which he currently envisages being carried out by the environment agency for England and Wales to which this new duty will not apply.
§ Mr. GummerAs I advised the House on 18 November, I wish there to be no doubt about the conservation and sustainable development role of the agency; I am providing a clear duty for the agency not simply to consider conservation issues in relation to all the agency's functions, but to further conservation as appropriate.
The Environment Bill, presented for first reading in another place on 1 December, sets out the conservation duties of the proposed environment agency in clauses 6 and 7.
The conservation duties of the National Rivers Authority are set out in clauses 2 and 16 of the Water Resources Act 1991.