Clause 6 - Existing impounding works: works notices
Water Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Bill Wiggin (Leominster, Conservative)
I welcome you back to the Chair, Mr. Amess. These are minor probing amendments, but I thought that it would be helpful if they were included. Going back to the original Water Resources Act 1991, this aspect of the Bill is succinctly covered in the old legislation. It is short, straightforward and pretty clear. By tabling the amendment, I hoped to discover from the Minister what advantage the new wording delivers. I am sure that he has plenty to say on that, but I thought that the amendment would be helpful.
The purpose of amendment No. 8 is to treat the Environment Agency in the same way as it treats other people. That would be constructive. We are dealing with empowerment of the agency. We are giving it quite strong powers that, if used wisely, will help the environment, but we also have a duty to secure some constraints on the agency to ensure that none of the new powers is taken too far. If the Minister could throw some light on that, we would be grateful.