Schedule 2 - The Consumer Council for Water
Water Bill [Lords]
6:45 pm
Mr Elliot Morley (Minister of State (Environment and Agri-Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Scunthorpe, Labour)
The Bill recognises that disabled people have special needs in relation to water supply. They are a special group, and need to have a reliable supply of water—an example of that would be people who are on dialysis. There are technical factors that must be understood, in addition to the problem of affordability, which is universal.
The issue of disability and water supply is important. I know from my experience as a constituency Member that when there was a debate about compulsory water metering in my area, affordability and water cost were raised as key issues for people who were chronically sick and disabled.
The problem with the amendment is that it is vague. It could make it more difficult for the Secretary of State and the Assembly to ensure that the candidates under consideration had a sufficient depth of knowledge fully to promote the needs of people with disabilities within the consumer council. In the Bill as currently drafted, the Secretary of State will ''have regard to'' the matter—it is not compulsory. However, if there is a good candidate, who has a great deal of experience of consumer issues and a great deal of credibility in relation to their own background, and also has experience of disability, it is not unreasonable to take that into account when making the appointment.