New
Clause
6
Utilities
‘(1)
The GLA Act 1999 is amended as
follows.
(2) In section 351(3),
after paragraph (k)
insert—
“(l) the
efficiency of the suppliers of water and
energy,”.
(3) In section
351(4), after paragraph (c)
insert—
“(cc) the
suppliers of water and energy to Greater London or any part of Greater
London,”.
(4) In section
61, after subsection (5)
insert—
“(5A)
This subsection applies to persons holding the office of regulator of
any supplier of water or energy to Greater London or any part of
Greater London.”
(5) In
section 61(1) for “or (5)” substitute “, (5) or
(5A)”.’.—[Tom
Brake.]
Brought
up, and read the First
time.
Tom
Brake:
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second
time.
The
Chairman:
With this it will be convenient to discuss new
clause 7— Water and sewerage
strategy—
‘(1) In
section 41 of the GLA Act 1999 in subsection (1) after paragraph (ef)
insert—
“(eg) the
water and sewerage strategy prepared and published under section 361F
below.”
(2) In Part 9 of
the GLA Act 1999 (environmental functions) after section 361E
insert—
“361F The
water and sewerage strategy
(1)
The Mayor shall prepare and publish a document to be known as
“the water and sewerage strategy for
London”.
(2) The water
and sewerage strategy for London shall
contain—
(a) the
Mayor’s assessment as to the consequences of actual and planned
development of whatever nature
upon the water and sewerage infrastructure within Greater London;
and (b) the Mayor’s
proposals and policies for ensuring the water and sewerage
infrastructure is adequate for the development referred to in
subsection (a) above.
(3) The
Secretary of State may give to the Mayor
guidance—
(a) about the
content of the strategy;
and
(b) in relation to the
preparation or revision of the
strategy.
(4) The guidance that
may be given under subsection (3)(b) above
includes—
(a) guidance
specifying or describing the bodies, persons or organisations which the
Mayor must consult; and
(b)
guidance as to the consequences of development to which the Mayor must
have regard.
(5) In preparing
or revising the strategy the Mayor must have regard to any guidance
given under subsection (3)
above.”.’.
Tom
Brake:
I hope that, with new clauses 6 and 7, I will be on
firmer ground, albeit we will be discussing water. We had a debate
earlier today on the importance of climate change, of the Mayor having
a strategy that addresses it and of providing him with the flexibility
he needs to take on that very important and serious agenda. The new
clauses, which relate to water and the utilities, are very much in the
vein of providing the Mayor with greater control and say over water
and, in relation to new clause 7, sewerage. The provision and use of
water will be central to the Mayor’s strategy on climate change,
and the new clauses would provide him with an opportunity to gain
greater control over the provision of water in
London.
I think that
most hon. Members would agree that in many respects Londoners have not
been particularly well served by some companies that one could mention.
I would not necessarily include in that list my own local supplier,
Sutton and East Surrey Water, which does a reasonable job, but clearly
others get regular headlines for their inability to tackle very
significant leakage rates when—apart from the weather that we
have had in the last few days—water is in relatively short
supply. Certainly, discussions with the local water supplier indicate
that in Surrey in particular, where a lot of water is stored in bore
holes, the water in the bore holes is at historically low
levels.
Jonathan
Shaw:
Lady Winterton, I beg to move that the Committee do
now
adjourn.
The
Chairman:
I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman does not
have the Floor; Mr. Brake does.
Jonathan
Shaw:
Bore
holes.
Tom
Brake:
The hon. Gentleman may have taken as his cue the
word “bore” and thought that that was the appropriate
point at which to intervene. Thank you, Lady Winterton, for your
protection.
My
comments were going to be brief. I was making the point that London is
not well served by many of its water companies and that the leakage
rate is unacceptable. There are still significant problems in relation
to sewerage, particularly at times of heavy rainfall. That is why I
hope the Minister will look favourably on the new
clauses.
Mr.
Pelling:
I note well the points that the hon. Gentleman
makes about the problems of leakage in the water system. They lead to
tremendous disruption on London’s roads in terms of Thames
Water’s undertakings. I am not sure whether that has yet
affected Carshalton and Wallington directly, but I know that a
significant number of unco-ordinated roadworks are to take place in
Croydon, which I am sure will adversely affect the hon.
Gentleman’s constituents. Does he feel that it might have been a
good consideration in this or perhaps related legislation to give the
Mayor powers for rather more substantial lane rental charges for
utilities, which can be very disruptive and uncaring about the needs of
road
users?
Tom
Brake:
I shall not stray too far down the path of lane
rental charges, but the hon. Gentleman makes the valid point that
despite the availability of such charges, in practice we experience
significant delays all over London as a result of various utility
works. He represents the borough of Sutton, and Croydon, so he will no
doubt be almost as familiar as I am with Beddington lane, which is in
his constituency as it is in mine. Traffic on that road is regularly
disrupted by utilities, which come in one after the other, rather than
in a co-ordinated
fashion.
To return to
the new clauses, I hope that the Minister sees their validity,
certainly in relation to providing the Mayor with additional powers to
develop his flexible and responsive strategy on climate change. That is
their
purpose.
The
Chairman:
I note that Mr. Shaw is seeking to
catch my eye.
Debate
adjourned.—[Jonathan
Shaw.]
Adjourned
accordingly at four minutes to Five o’clock till Tuesday 23
January at half-past Ten
o’clock.
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