§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the lines of accountability are with regard to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive in the event of a river basin management plan crossing borders between river basins. [93269]
§ Mr. MorleyIt is proposed that the Environment Agency will be under a duty to prepare a draft river basin management plan for each river basin district in consultation with relevant bodies and that Secretary of State should have an explicit role in approving plans, including powers to require modifications, or to reject them.
Maps of the proposed river basin districts are included at appendix 5 of the Government's Second Consultation Paper. Four basins will cross internal 735W borders, two in England-Wales (the Severn and the Dee) and two in England-Scotland1 (the Solway/Esk and the Tweed). The Directive allows individual river basins to be combined to form a district and it is proposed that England-Wales forms two districts, and it is likely that England-Scotland will combine basins to form one district.
It is for further consideration how DEFRA and the Wales Assembly Government, and how DEFRA and the Scottish Executive will manage cross-border districts. Cross-border issues England-Scotland are treated separately from cross-border issues England-Wales to take account of the different legislation in place.
1A small number of tributaries of the North Tyne rise in Scotland before flowing into England. Since only a small area of the basin lies in Scotland, it is proposed that it be combined with a neighbouring basin lying wholly in England, such as the Tees, into a single river basin district.