Clause 30 - Water resources management schemes:
Water Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Ms Sue Doughty (Guildford, Liberal Democrat)
This is a simple, but important, amendment. Requirements are being introduced,
especially when licences are granted, to make provision for
''the construction and installation of any reservoirs, apparatus or other works which the holder of the licence will use for the purposes of or in connection with his abstraction''.
There is also a provision requiring
''payments to be made by the Agency to the holder of the licence''
and a requirement for
''the reference to and determination by the Secretary of State or the Water Services Regulation Authority of questions arising under the arrangements.''
At the moment, those provisions are not in the public domain. If someone upstream, downstream, or facing someone who has been given a licence with these conditions wants to question something that is affecting their land, property or environment, there is no way for them to understand the basis on which decisions will be taken. There is no reason why these provisions should not be in the public domain. It is important that people can understand what requirements have been placed on the licence holder, which is why we have tabled the amendment.