asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) whether, when a consumer has installed a water meter, he will take steps to ensure that, if the cost of the water consumed is less than the standard minimum charge, the consumer will not be penalised by having to pay the difference between the cost of the amount of water he has consumed and the standard minimum charge;

(2) whether he is satisfied that the present method of charging water rates as a proportion of the general rate is equitable; and, in view of the fact that the provision of meters wherever possible would be an advantage in assessing charges for the actual amount of water consumed, whether he will recommend this policy to water authorities.

Both matters are dealt with in the report on water charges prepared by a sub-committee of the Central Advisory Water Committee. My right hon. Friend is at present considering the report and I would ask my hon. Friend to await the statement on it which he hopes to make soon.

Does my hon. Friend realise that the first question is a matter of "Heads I win, tails you lose"? Does the method referred to in the second Question lead to the conservation of water supplies, which we all realise should be pursued?

Certainly the first Question was very much one to be considered by the sub-committee, and I think the second was also, although I am a little less certain about that. But they are matters which will be very much in my right hon. Friend's mind in considering his statement.