Clause 43 - Guidance to authority on
Water Bill [Lords]
9:15 am
Mr Elliot Morley (Minister of State (Environment and Agri-Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Scunthorpe, Labour)
I can explain. Amendment No. 78 would restrict some of the National Assembly's functions with regard to water undertakers operating entirely within Wales. The problem is that I do not think that there is an undertaker operating entirely within Wales, because the boundaries of the current English and Welsh undertakers are based on the old water board areas prior to privatisation. They were based on the natural river basin catchment areas, which of course is logical. As a result, some of the catchments cross the border, as the hon. Gentleman rightly states. It would create confusion and cause a number of practical problems if the Secretary of State and the Assembly had jurisdiction over their national areas, because there would be splits on the boundaries.
For that reason, the devolution settlement for water regulation provides for jurisdiction to follow company boundaries. That is the logic and the Bill follows that entirely practical precedent. Because no undertaker
serves an area that is wholly within Wales, the technical consequence of the amendment is that the Assembly would be excluded, and the Secretary of State would have to exercise those powers throughout England and Wales. It is practical management to base the boundaries on catchment areas and not to use political boundaries.