Draft Regulatory Reform (British Waterways Board) Order 2003
Report under Standing Order No. 141
1. The Regulatory Reform Committee has examined the
draft Regulatory Reform (British Waterways Board) Order 2003 in
accordance with Standing Order No. 141. We recommend unanimously
that the draft order be approved.
Introduction
2. On 28 April 2003 the Government laid the draft
order before Parliament, together with an explanatory statement
from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the
Department).[
1] We have already reported
on the proposal for this order, which would amend the Transport
Act 1962 and the Transport Act 1968 by adding to and clarifying
the British Waterways Boards statutory powers, which would enable
the Water Grid public/private partnership to be implemented. The
amendments would:
- give the Board additional powers to abstract,
purchase, treat and sell water, and to treat and dispose of
effluent
- clarify that, where the Board forms a company
for carrying on any of the Board's activities, the Board is
not required to secure any restriction on that company's borrowing
powers.
3. The House has instructed us to examine the draft
order against such of the criteria specified in Standing Order
No. 141(6) as are relevant. We are also required to consider the
extent to which the responsible Minister has had regard to any
resolution or report of the Committee or to any other representations
made during the period for parliamentary consideration.[
2] Our discussion of matters
arising from our examination is set out below.
Findings of our previous report
4. We were satisfied that the proposal met the criteria
against which we are required to judge it, and we concluded that
a draft order in the same terms as the proposal should be laid
before the House.
Adequate consultation
5. We were satisfied that the proposal had been the
subject of an adequate consultation process and that the Department
had taken appropriate account of the consultation responses. However,
we were concerned by the apparent lack of opportunity at the planning
stages of the Water Grid project for groups such as English Nature
and The Wildlife Trusts to raise environmental concerns.[
3] We suggested that, had
the Department provided certain relevant information to English
Nature, The Wildlife Trusts and other interested environmental bodies,
and given them the opportunity to comment on that information, their
environmental concerns could have been resolved at an early stage.
We considered it unfortunate that English Nature's concerns were
properly addressed only when a parliamentary committee chose to
seek further information about the adequacy of the consultation
process.
6. On the basis of these concerns, we stated that
we expected the Department to make the relevant information available
to any other environmental body that requests such information.
We trusted that the Department and the Board would seek to address
any outstanding environmental concerns that may arise as a consequence
of such a request.
The Department's response to our report
7. No changes have been made to the draft order since
the proposal was laid on 13 January 2003.
1 Copies of the proposal are available
to Members of Parliament from the Vote Office and to members of
the public from the Department. The proposal is also available on
the Cabinet Office web site www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
regulation/act/proposals.htm. Back
2
Standing Order No. 141(7) Back
3 Standing
Order No. 141(5) provides that the Committee may report to the
House on any matter arising from its consideration of a proposal. Back
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