Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, Amendment No. 79 is in our name. We are greatly exercised by the issue, and I was very pleased to hear what the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, said about his amendments. There is no doubt that water is a scarce commodity, and climate change means that there is likely to be 40 per cent less of it in Wales by 2050. It is one of the few valuable resources left in Wales, and it is part of our natural wealth. The Bill gives rise to many issues. Proposed subsection (3)(b), which Amendment No. 79 would insert into Clause 151, is designed merely to achieve equality of wording with that of the subsection relating to any adverse impact on water in England. There is no mention of what any adverse impact on water would be in Wales, so the wording of proposed subsection (3)(b) is:"““In considering whether or not to continue exercising that function, the Assembly shall have regard to . . . any adverse impact that would be had on Welsh water by the discontinuation of the relevant function””." Clause 151 currently allows the Secretary of State to intervene when the exercise of a particular function by the Welsh Assembly has a serious adverse impact on the resources, supplies and quality of water in England. Our amendment would remove the subsections that allow the Secretary of State to intervene either to remove the function from the person who currently operates it or to exercise the function himself. Instead, our amendment proposes that the Secretary of State can make representations to the Assembly about the effect that that function is having on English water. The Assembly must take those representations into account when considering whether to continue exercising that function. The amendment would also require the Assembly to take into account any adverse impact that the discontinuation of the function would have on Welsh water, as I have said. Given the objectives written into the 1998 Wales Act on the importance of environmental sustainability, issues such as compensatory flows in rivers and ecological damage may arise. On equality, we also have to remember that, for example, the Severn Trent company—the second most profitable water company in England—has a 999-year lease on water coming from the Elan Valley at a price that has been set in such a way that the dice, let us say, in the legislation are loaded not necessarily in favour of Wales. I commend my Amendment No. 79.