Water Act 1973

• (3) Except as provided by sub-paragraph (1) above, the validity of an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area shall not, either before or after the order has been made, be questioned in any legal proceedings whatsoever.

SCHEDULE 3

Part I

General

1

A water authority shall be a body corporate.

2

A water authority shall have power to do anything (whether or not involving the expenditure, borrowing or lending of money or the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which in the opinion of the authority is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions.

Terms of office of members of water authorities

3

The chairman of a water authority and the other members appointed by a Minister shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of their appointment.

4

• (1) This paragraph applies to members of a water authority appointed by a local authority or local authorities.

• (2) The first members to whom this paragraph applies shall come into office on the day on which the water authority comes into existence, or, in the case of a member who is for any reason appointed after that day, on the day on which the appointment is made, and, subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, shall hold office until the end of May in such year as may be specified for the purposes of this paragraph in the order establishing the authority.

• (3) Any other members to whom this paragraph applies shall come into office at the beginning of the June next following the day on which they are appointed, and, subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, shall hold office for a term of four years:

Provided that if for any reason any member is appointed on or after the day on which he ought to have come into office, he shall come into office on the day on which he is appointed and shall hold office for the remainder of the said term.

Vacation of office by members

5

• (1) A member of a water authority may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the chairman of the authority and also, if he was appointed by a Minister, to that Minister.

• (2) The chairman of a water authority may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of State.

6

• (1) The office of a member of a water authority shall become vacant upon the happening of any of the following events, namely, if he—

• (a) is adjudged bankrupt, or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors; or

• (b) is convicted in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man of any offence and has passed on him a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine ; or

• (c) is disqualified for being elected or for being a member of a local authority or water authority under Part III of the Representation of the People Act 1949 or under Part VIII of the 1972 Act; or

• (d) has, for a period of six consecutive months, been absent from meetings of the authority, otherwise than by reason of illness or some other cause approved during that period by the authority.

• (2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(d) above, the attendance of a member of a water authority at a meeting of any committee of the authority of which he is a member, or at any joint committee to which he has been appointed by the authority, shall be treated as attendance at a meeting of the authority.

Appointments to fill casual vacancies

7

Where, for any reason whatsoever, the place of a member of a water authority becomes vacant before the end of his term of office the vacancy—

• (a) shall, if the unexpired portion of the term of office of the vacating member is six months or more, be filled by the appointment of a new member ; and

• (b) may be so filled in any other case.

8

A person appointed by virtue of paragraph 7 above to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office so long only as the former member would have held office.

Disqualification for, and re-appointment to, membership of water authorities

9

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a person shall be disqualified for appointment as a member of a water authority if he—

• (a) is a paid officer of the authority ; or

• (b) is a person who has been adjudged bankrupt, or made a composition or arrangement with his creditors ; or

• (c) has within the period of five years ending on the day on which his qualification for appointment falls to be determined, been surcharged by a district auditor to an amount exceeding £500 under Part X of the Local Government Act 1933 ; or

• (d) has within five years before the day of his appointment been convicted in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man of any offence and has had passed on him a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine ; or

• (e) is disqualified for being elected or for being a member of a local authority or water authority under Part III of the Representation of the People Act 1949 or Part VIII of the 1972 Act.

• (2) Where a person is disqualified under sub-paragraph (1) above by reason of having been adjudged bankrupt, then—

• (a) if the bankruptcy is annulled on the ground that he ought not to have been adjudged bankrupt or on the ground that his debts have been paid in full, the disqualification shall cease on the date of the annulment;

• (b) if he is discharged with a certificate that the bankruptcy was caused by misfortune without any misconduct on his part, the disqualification shall cease on the date of his discharge; and

• (c) if he is discharged without such a certificate his disqualification shall cease on the expiration of five years from the date of his discharge.

• (3) Where a person is disqualified under sub-paragraph (1) above by reason of his having made a composition or arrangement with his creditors and he pays his debts in full, the disqualification shall cease on the date on which the payment is completed, and in any other case it shall cease on the expiration of five years from the date on which the terms of the deed of composition or arrangement are fulfilled.

• (4) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(c) and (d) above, the ordinary date on which the period allowed for making an appeal or application with respect to the surcharge or conviction expires or, if such an appeal or application is made, the date on which it is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails by reason of non-prosecution shall be taken to be the date of the surcharge or conviction, as the case may be.

• (5) Section 92 of the 1972 Act (proceedings for disqualification) shall apply in relation to disqualification under this paragraph for appointment as a member of a water authority as it applies in relation to disqualification for acting as a member of a local authority.

10

Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, a member of a water authority shall be eligible for reappointment.

Remuneration and allowances

11

• (1) A water authority—

• (a) shall pay their chairman and the chairmen of their regional land drainage committee and their local land drainage committees such remuneration and such allowances as may be determined by the Ministers with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service; and

• (b) if the Ministers with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service so determine in the case of any person who is or has been chairman of a water authority or any such committee, shall pay or make arrangements for the payment of a pension, allowance or gratuity to or in respect of that person in accordance with the determination.

• (2) Sections 173 to 175 of the 1972 Act (allowances to members of local authorities) shall apply to water authorities, and for the purposes of those sections as applied by this paragraph a member of a committee or sub-committee of a water authority shall be deemed to be a member of that authority.

Officers

12

Sections 114 to 119 of the 1972 Act (which contain miscellaneous provisions relating to officers and former officers) shall each have effect in relation to a water authority and to officers of a water authority subject to the necessary modifications and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of this paragraph, with the substitution in section 115 of that Act for the reference to the proper officer of the local authority of a reference to such officer of the water authority as that authority may appoint for the purposes of this paragraph.

13

Without prejudice to paragraph 2 above, a water authority may—

• (a) provide housing accommodation for persons employed by them (whether by constructing, converting, enlarging or acquiring any buildings and whether by selling such accommodation or letting it or permitting it to be occupied with or without requiring the payment of rent or other charges);

• (b) permit a person for whom the authority provided housing accommodation while employed by them to occupy such accommodation provided by them after ceasing to be so employed.

Meetings and proceedings of water authorities and committees

14

• (1) In paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 (bodies to which in England and Wales that Act applies), for paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:—

(c) water authorities

.

• (2) Without prejudice to section 2(1) of that Act (application of section 1 of that Act to any committee of a body whose members consist of or include all members of that body), section 1 of that Act shall apply to every committee appointed or established by one or more water authorities under any provision of this Act or otherwise.

• (3) Where section 1 of that Act applies to a committee by virtue of this paragraph, then, for the purposes of subsection (4)(c) of that section, premises belonging to die water authority or one or more of the water authorities which established or appointed the committee shall be treated as belonging to the committee.

15

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a person nominated by one or more local authorities may act as deputy for a member of a water authority appointed by that local authority or those local authorities and may accordingly (instead of that member) attend and vote at a meeting of the water authority or any committees or sub-committees to which the member for whom he is a deputy belongs.

• (2) A person acting as deputy for a member of a water authority shall be treated for the purposes for which he is nominated as a member of that authority.

• (3) A person shall not act as deputy for a member of a water authority unless his nomination has been notified to an officer of the authority appointed to receive such nominations.

• (4) A nomination shall be in writing and may apply cither to a particular meeting or to all meetings during a stated period or until the nomination is revoked.

• (5) A person shall not act as deputy for more than one member of a water authority.

• (6) The reference to committees and sub-committees in this paragraph does not include a reference to regional or local land drainage committees.

16

The proceedings of a water authority, or of any committee or sub-committee of such an authority, shall not be invalidated by any vacancy in their number, or by any defect in the appointment, or the qualification for appointment, of any person as a member or as chairman.

17

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, the provisions of sections 94 to 98 of the 1972 Act (pecuniary interests of members of local authorities) shall apply in relation to members of a water authority, or of any committee or subcommittee of a water authority, as those provisions apply in relation to members of local authorities.

• (2) In their application by virtue of this paragraph the said provisions shall have effect in accordance with the following provisions—

• (a) for references to meetings of the local authority there shall be substituted references to meetings of a water authority or of any committee or sub-committee of such an authority ;

• (b) in section 94(4) for the reference to provision being made by standing orders of a local authority there shall be substituted a reference to provision being made by rules of the water authority;

• (c) in section 96 for references to the proper officer of the local authority there shall be substituted a reference to an officer of the water authority appointed for the purposes of this paragraph ;

• (d) in the case of members of a committee or sub-committee of a water authority, the right of persons who are members of the committee or sub-committee but not members of the authority to inspect the book kept under section 96(2) shall be limited to an inspection of the entries in the book relating to the members of that committee or sub-committee;

• (e) section 97 shall apply as it applies to a local authority other than a parish or community council.

• (3) Without prejudice to section 97(4) of the 1972 Act, section 94 of that Act shall not by virtue of this paragraph apply—

• (a) to any interest which a member of a water authority or committee or sub-committee may have in the preparation or revision of a charges scheme or in the raising of any drainage rates, the levying of any general or special drainage charges or the levying of any other charges by a water authority; or

• (b) to any interest in any other matter which such a member may have as the holder of, or as an applicant or prospective applicant for, a licence under the Water Resources Act 1963 where it is an interest which he has in common with all other holders of, or applicants or prospective applicants for, such licences, or in common with all other persons belonging to a class of such holders, applicants or prospective applicants.

18

• (1) A minute of the proceedings of a meeting of a water authority, or of any committee or sub-committee of such an authority, purporting to be signed at that or the next ensuing meeting by the chairman of the meeting to the proceedings of which the minute relates or by the chairman of the next ensuing meeting, shall be evidence of the proceedings and shall be received in evidence without further proof ; and, until the contrary is proved, every meeting in respect of the proceedings of which a minute has been so signed shall be deemed to have been duly convened and held, and all the proceedings had at the meeting to have been duly had, and, where the proceedings are the proceedings of a committee or sub-committee, that committee or sub-committee shall be deemed to have been duly constituted and have had power to deal with the matters referred to in the minute.

• (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, the minutes of proceedings of meetings of a water authority shall be open to the inspection of any local government elector for any part of the water authority area, and any such local government elector may make a copy of or extract from the minutes.

• (3) Sub-paragraph (2) above does not apply to any part of such minutes which contains information with respect to any manufacturing process or trade secret obtained in the exercise of powers under this Act or any enactment amended by this Act.

• (4) In this paragraph " local government elector " means a person registered as a local government elector in the register of electors in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Acts.

Authentication of documents

19

Any notice or other document which a water authority are required or authorised to give, make or issue by or under this Act or any other enactment may be signed on behalf of the authority by any member or officer of the authority generally or specially authorised for that purpose by a resolution of the authority; and any document purporting to bear the signature of a person expressed to be so authorised shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to be duly given, made or issued by authority of the water authority.

Contracts

20

• (1) A water authority shall make rules with respect to the making by or on behalf of the authority of contracts for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works.

• (2) Rules made by a water authority with respect to contracts for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works shall include provision for securing competition for such contracts and for regulating the manner in which tenders are invited, but may exempt from any such provision contracts for a price below that specified in the rules and may authorise the authority to exempt any con-tract from any such provision where the authority are satisfied that the exemption is justified by special circumstances.

• (3) A person entering into a contract with a water authority shall not be bound to inquire whether the rules of the authority which apply to the contract have been complied with; and non-compliance with such rules shall not invalidate any contract entered into by or on behalf of the authority.

Interpretation

21

In this Part of this Schedule references to a committee or sub-committee of a water authority include references to a committee or sub-committee of two or more such authorities and to a committee or sub-committee established under Schedule 8 to this Act or by a scheme thereunder.

Part II

22

The Council shall be a body corporate.

23

The Council shall have power to do anything (whether or not involving the expenditure, borrowing or lending of money or the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which in the opinion of the Council is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions.

24

The members of the Council, other than the chairmen of the water authorities, shall hold and vacate office in accordance wits the terms of their respective appointments, but those terms shall not provide for any of them to hold office for more than five years at a time.

25

• (1) Any such member of the Council may by notice in writing addressed to the Minister who appointed him resign his office.

• (2) A member of the Council who ceases to be a member shall be eligible for re-appointment

26

Paragraphs 6 and 9 above, except sub-paragraph (1)(a) of paragraph 9, shall apply to the Council as they apply to a water authority.

27

• (1) The Council—

• (a) shall pay to the appointed members such remuneration and such allowances as may be determined by the appointing Minister with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service; and

• (b) if the appointing Minister with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service so determines in the case of any person who is or has been an appointed member of the Council, shall pay or make arrangements for the payment of a pension, allowance or gratuity to or in respect of that person in accordance with the determination ;

and if a person ceases to be an appointed member of the Council and it appears to the appointing Minister that there are special circumstances which make it right that that person should receive compensation, that Minister may require the Council to pay to that person a sum of such amount as that Minister may with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service determine.

• (2) In sub-paragraph (1) above " appointed member " means any member of the Council other than the chairmen of the water authorities and, in relation to any such member, " appointing Minister " means the Minister by whom he was appointed.

• (3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 23 of this Schedule, the Council may establish and administer pension schemes and pension funds in the interest of persons who are or have been employed by them and may pay pensions, allowances and gratuities to or in respect of such persons, or enter into and carry into effect agreements or arrangements with any other person for securing or preserving pension rights for any such persons.

28

• (1) The quorum of the Council and the arrangements relating to its meetings shall, subject to any directions given by the Ministers, be such as the Council may determine.

• (2) A person who is a member of the Council by virtue of his office as chairman of a water authority may authorise another person, being a member of that authority, to attend in his stead at a meeting of the Council, and any person so attending shall be treated for the purposes of that meeting as a member of the Council.

• (3) Any authorisation under sub-paragraph (2) above shall be in writing and may apply either to a particular meeting or to all meetings during a stated period or until the authorisation is revoked.

29

The Council may arrange for the discharge of any of their functions, except their power to borrow money or require contributions from the water authorities to the expenses of the Council, by a committee, a sub-committee or an officer of the Council, and any such committee may, unless the Council otherwise direct, arrange for the discharge of any of their functions by a sub-committee or officer of the Council.

30

The validity of any proceedings of the Council shall not be affected by any vacancy among the members of the Council or any defect in the appointment of any of their members.

Part III

Revenue and reserves

31

• (1) A water authority shall charge to revenue account in every year all charges which are proper to be made to revenue account, including such allocations to reserve as they consider adequate or as may be necessary to comply with any directions under paragraph 32 below and including any payments to the Council under paragraph 33 below.

• (2) Revenue raised by a water authority in a local land drainage district—

• (a) under or by virtue of Part II of Schedule 5 to this Act;

• (b) by contributions required under section 21(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (contributions from internal drainage boards); or

• (c) by special drainage charges under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 ;

shall, except for any amount which they consider appropriate to set aside towards research or related activities and paying their administrative expenses and an appropriate proportion of any amount allocated to reserve under sub-paragraph (1) above and of any payment to the Council under paragraph 33 below, be spent only in the discharge of their land drainage functions in or for the benefit of that district.

• (3) Any amount specified in a resolution under section 21(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (resolution passed by a water authority who are the drainage board of an internal drainage district allocating a portion of their revenue in lieu of contributions which they would require from the drainage board of that district under section 21(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1930) shall be treated for the purposes of this paragraph as if it were revenue actually raised by contributions required under section 21(1) of the said Act of 1930.

32

• (1) The Ministers may with the approval of the Treasury and after consultation with the Council direct a water authority—

• (a) to allocate to reserve generally or to reserve for a particular purpose either a specified amount or such amount as the authority consider adequate, or

• (b) to re-allocate for a specified purpose the whole or part of any amount previously allocated for some other purpose, or

• (c) with respect to the application of amounts allocated to reserve.

• (2) Directions under this paragraph requiring the allocation of any amount to reserve may provide for it to be so allocated either at a specified time or during the course of a specified period.

33

Expenditure of the Council shall, so far as not defrayed out of their own resources, be defrayed, if it is properly chargeable to revenue account, by the water authorities and any payment of a water authority towards defraying that expenditure shall be such proportion of that expenditure as the Secretary of State may direct.

Loans and grants

34

• (1) A water authority and the Council may borrow money in accordance, and only in accordance, with the provisions of this paragraph.

• (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (5) below, a water authority and the Council may borrow temporarily, by way of overdraft or otherwise, such sums as they may require for meeting their obligations and discharging their functions—

• (a) in sterling from the Secretary of State, or

• (b) with the consent of the Secretary of State and the approval of the Treasury, or in accordance with any general authority given by the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury, either in sterling or in a currency other than sterling from a person other than the Secretary of State.

• (3) Subject to sub-paragraph (5) below, a water authority and the Council may borrow otherwise than by way of temporary loan such sums as they may require for capital purposes—

• (a) in sterling from the Secretary of State, or

• (b) with the consent of the Secretary of State and the approval of the Treasury, in a currency other than sterling from a person other than the Secretary of State.

• (4) Subject to sub-paragraph (5) below, a water authority and the Council may, with the consent of the Secretary of State and the approval of the Treasury, borrow (otherwise than by way of temporary loan) from the Commission of the European Communities or the European Investment Bank sums in any currency.

• (5) The aggregate amount outstanding in respect of the principal of—

• (a) sums borrowed by water authorities and the Council; and

• (b) sums borrowed or treated by or by virtue of any enactment as borrowed by local authorities, towards the discharge of the principal or interest of which water authorities are making contributions ;

shall not exceed £3,750 million or such greater sum not exceeding £5,000 million as the Secretary of State may by order specify.

• (6) The Secretary of State may also by order specify a limit for the borrowing of any water authority or of the Council.

• (7) No order shall be made under sub-paragraph (5) above unless a draft of the order has been laid before the House of Commons, and has been approved by a resolution of that House.

35

• (1) The Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury—

• (a) make to a water authority out of money provided by Parliament grants of such amounts as the Secretary of State thinks fit;

• (b) give a water authority a direction providing that the whole or part of a grant made in pursuance of paragraph (a) above is not to be used by the authority otherwise than for the purpose of such of the authority's functions as are specified in the direction, not being land drainage functions.

• (2) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, lend to a water authority or to the Council any sums which they have power to borrow by virtue of paragraph 34 above.

• (3) Any loan which the Secretary of State makes in pursuance of sub-paragraph (2) above shall be repaid to him at such times and by such methods, and interest on the loan shall be paid to him at such rates and at such times, as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury from time to time determine.

• (4) The Treasury may issue out of the National Loans Fund to the Secretary of State such sums as are necessary to enable him to make loans in pursuance of sub-paragraph (2) above, and any sums received by the Secretary of State in pursuance of sub-paragraph (3) above shall be paid into that Fund.

36

• (1) The Treasury may guarantee, in such manner and on such conditions as they think fit, the repayment of the principal of and the payment of interest on any sums which an authority or the Council borrow from a person other than the Secretary of State.

• (2) Immediately after a guarantee is given under this paragraph the Treasury shall lay a statement of the guarantee before each House of Parliament; and where any sum is issued for fulfilling a guarantee so given the Treasury shall, as soon as possible after the end of each financial year (beginning with that in which the sum is issued and ending with that in which all liability in respect of the principal of the sum and in respect of the interest thereon is finally discharged), lay before each House of Parliament a statement relating to that sum.

• (3) Any sums required by the Treasury for fulfilling a guarantee under this paragraph shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.

• (4) If any sums are issued in fulfilment of a guarantee given under this paragraph, the authority or, as the case may be, the Council shall make to the Treasury, at such times and in such manner as the Treasury from time to time direct, payments of such amounts as the Treasury so direct in or towards repayment of the sums so issued and payments of interest, at such rate as the Treasury so direct, on what is outstanding for the time being in respect of sums so issued.

• (5) Any sums received by the Treasury in pursuance of sub-paragraph (4) above shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

37

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State as respects each financial year—

• (a) to prepare, in such form and manner as the Treasury may direct, an account of sums issued to the Secretary of State in pursuance of paragraph 35 above and of any sums required to be paid into the National Loans Fund in pursuance of that paragraph and of the disposal by the Secretary of State of those sums respectively ; and

• (b) to send a copy of the account to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than the end of the month of November next following that year ;

and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on the account and. shall lay copies of it and of his report on it before each House of Parliament.

Accounts and audit of authorities and Council

38

• (1) It shall be the duty of a water authority and of the Council—

• (a) to keep proper accounts and proper records in relation to the accounts;

• (b) to prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of accounts, in such form as the Ministers may direct with the approval of the Treasury, showing the state of the affairs of the body preparing the statement

• (2) Without prejudice to sub-paragraph (1) above, the Minister may direct a water authority to keep such accounts and records and to prepare such statements with regard to money expended in the performance of their land drainage functions as he may think fit.

• (3) As soon as the accounts and statements mentioned in sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) above for any financial year have been audited under paragraph 39 below, the authority or the Council shall send to the Ministers a copy of the statement together with a copy of any report made by the auditor on it or on their accounts, and the Ministers shall lay a copy of every statement and report of which a copy is received by them in pursuance of this sub-paragraph before each House of Parliament.

• (4) A copy of any document required under sub-paragraph (3) above to be sent by a water authority to the Ministers shall also be sent by the authority, as soon as the accounts kept and each statement prepared for any financial year in pursuance of sub-paragraph (1) or (2) above have been audited under paragraph 39 below, to every local authority whose area is wholly or partly included in the water authority's area.

• (5) Any person, on application to an authority or to the Council, shall be entitled to be furnished with copies of the statements of their accounts prepared under this paragraph and of the auditor's report on those accounts on payment of such reasonable sum as the authority or the Council may determine, and to inspect and to take copies of, or extracts from, an abstract of the accounts of the authority or Council free of charge.

39

All accounts of a water authority and the Council shall be audited in accordance with Part VIII of the 1972 Act by a district auditor or an approved auditor appointed under that Part of that Act, and accordingly the relevant provisions of that Part of that Act, that is to say, sections 154 to 167, shall apply to all such accounts as they apply to the accounts of a county council, and in section 161(2)(b) and (7) (disqualification), as applied by this paragraph, the references to a local authority shall include references to a water authority and the Council.

Annual reports of authorities, Council and Water Space Amenity Commission

40

• (1) Each water authority, the Council and the Water Space Amenity Commission shall make to the Ministers, as soon as possible after the end of each financial year, a report on the discharge by them of their functions during that year and of their policy and programme.

• (2) If the Ministers so direct, a report under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be in such form and contain such information as is specified in the direction.

• (3) A water authority shall send a copy of their report for any year to the Council and to every local authority whose area is wholly or partly situated in the area of the water authority.

• (4) The Council shall send a copy of their report for any year to every water authority.

• (5) The Water Space Amenity Commission shall send a copy of their report for any year to the Council, every water authority and every county council.

• (6) The report for any year of a water authority or of the Council shall set out any direction given to them during that year under this Act.

• (7) The Ministers shall lay a copy of every such report before each House of Parliament.

• (8) Any person shall be entitled to be furnished with a copy of the report of a water authority, the Council or the Water Space Amenity Commission for any year on applying to the body who made the report and on payment of such reasonable sum as that body may determine.

41

It shall also be the duty of every water authority to furnish the Ministers and the Council with such information as they may from time to time require with respect to the authority's property, financial position, activities or proposed activities, and with respect to the water resources in the authority's area, and to afford to the Ministers facilities for the verification of information so furnished.

Relationship of Welsh and Severn-Trent Water Authorities

42

• (1) The Severn-Trent Water Authority shall consult the Welsh authority on any substantial development or matter of policy arising from the exercise of the former's functions, in so far as the development or matter affects so much of their area as is within Wales.

• (2) It shall be the duty of the Welsh authority to keep the Secretary of State informed of their views on all matters about which they are in consultation with the Severn-Trent Water Authority.

43

• (1) Where the Severn-Trent Water Authority acquire an estate or interest in land in Wales for or in connection with the construction and operation of a reservoir, they shall convey the estate or interest in the land to the Welsh authority who shall grant the Severn-Trent Water Authority, for the purposes for which the latter originally acquired the estate or interest, a lease or sub-lease of the land or such other interest in it as may be appropriate.

• (2) A conveyance or grant under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be on such terms as may be agreed between the two water authorities or as, in default of agreement, may be settled by the Secretary of State.

SCHEDULE 4

PART I — Sections to be substituted for sections 12 and 13 of the Water Act 1945

PART II — Making and Confirmation of Water Authority Orders

1

No order made by a water authority under section 12 or 13 of the Water Act 1945 shall have effect until confirmed by the Secretary of State under this Part of this Schedule.

2

A water authority shall, at least one month before they apply for the confirmation of any such order,—

• (a) cause a notice of their intention to make the application to be published in the London Gazette and in such other manner as they think best adapted for informing persons affected, and

• (b) cause copies of the notice to be served on the bodies to whom the order relates and any other public authorities who appear to them to be concerned.

3

For at least one month before an application is made for the confirmation of such an order, a copy of it shall be deposited at the offices of the water authority.

4

The water authority shall provide reasonable facilities for the inspection without charge of an order deposited under paragraph 3 above.

5

Any person on application to the water authority shall be entitled to be furnished free of charge with a printed copy of such an order.

6

The Secretary of State, with or without a local inquiry, may refuse to confirm an order submitted for confirmation under this Part of this Schedule, or may confirm the order either with or without modifications; and the authority shall, if so directed by the Secretary of State, cause notice of any proposed modifications to be given in accordance with such directions.

7

The Secretary of State may fix the date on which an order confirmed under this Part of this Schedule is to come into operation, and if no date is so fixed the order shall come into operation at the end of the period of one month beginning with the date of confirmation.

8

An order confirmed under this Part of this Schedule shall be printed and deposited at the office of the water authority and copies of it shall, at all reasonable hours, be open to public inspection without charge.

9

Any person on application to the water authority shall be entitled to be furnished with a copy of it, on payment of such reasonable sum as the authority may determine.

10

Subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972 shall apply in relation to a local inquiry under this Part of this Schedule as they apply to a local inquiry which a Minister caused to be held under subsection (1) of that section but with the omission of the word " local " from subsection (4).

SCHEDULE 5

PART I — Regional and Local Land Drainage Committees

Regional Land Drainage Committees

1

• (1) Every water authority shall establish not later than 1st December 1973 or such later date as may be authorised in their case under sub-paragraph (2) below a committee, to be known as a regional land drainage committee.

• (2) The Minister may, on the application of any water authority, authorise them to establish their regional land drainage committee not later than such date after 1st December 1973, but not after 31st March 1974, as he may specify.

• (3) A regional land drainage committee shall consist of—

• (a) a chairman and a number of other members appointed by the Minister;

• (b) two members appointed by the water authority ; and

• (c) a number of members appointed by or on behalf of constituent councils.

• (4) If any part of a county is in a water authority area, the council of that county shall be a constituent council for the authority's regional land drainage committee.

• (5) If any part of Greater London is in a water authority area, the council of any London borough wholly or partly within that area shall be a constituent council for the authority's regional land drainage committee.

• (6) The Greater London Council shall be a constituent council for the Thames Water Authority's regional land drainage committee.

• (7) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, the water authority shall determine the total number of members of their regional land drainage committee and may from time to time make a determination varying that number.

• (8) The total number of such members shall be not less than eleven and, except where an order under sub-paragraph (11) below provides otherwise, not more than seventeen.

• (9) A water authority shall submit any determination under sub-paragraph (7) above to the Minister.

• (10) Any determination that a regional land drainage committee should consist of more than seventeen members shall be provisional, and shall only take effect if the Minister makes an order under sub-paragraph (11) below.

• (11) If the water authority submit a provisional determination to the Minister, he may by order—

• (a) confirm it; or

• (b) substitute for the number of members determined by the water authority some other number not less than seventeen.

• (12) When the number of members of a regional land drainage committee has been fixed under this paragraph (whether on the first or any subsequent determination), the Minister shall by order specify, subject to paragraphs 3 and 15 below, the number of members to be appointed to the committee by or on behalf of constituent councils.

• (13) An order under sub-paragraph (12) above shall be so framed that the total number of members appointed under sub-paragraph (3)(a) and (b) above is one less than die number of those appointed by or on behalf of constituent councils.

2

• (1) The chairman of a regional land drainage committee shall be one of the members of the water authority appointed to that authority by the Minister.

• (2) The remaining members appointed to such a committee by the Minister under paragraph 1(3)(a) above shall be appointed from among persons who in his opinion have had experience of, and have shown capacity in, or otherwise have special knowledge of, matters relating to land drainage or agriculture and, in particular, matters so relating which affect the area of the water authority or part of that area.

3

• (1) In determining for the purposes of an order under paragraph 1 above the number of persons to be appointed to a regional land drainage committee by or on behalf of each constituent council, the Minister shall have regard to the appropriate penny rate product for each relevant area of that council for the relevant year; and where, having regard to the proportion which that product bears to the aggregate of the appropriate penny rate products for the relevant areas of all the constituent councils for that year—

• (a) he considers it to be inappropriate that that council should appoint a member of the committee, or

• (b) he considers that one or more members should be appointed jointly by that council and one or more other constituent councils,

he may by the order so provide.

• (2) Where, in accordance with sub-paragraph (1)(b) above, an order provides for the joint appointment of one or more members of a regional land drainage committee, and the councils by whom that appointment is to be made are unable to agree on an appointment, the member or members in question shall be appointed by the Minister on behalf of those councils.

• (3) In the appointment of members of a regional land drainage committee, that committee's constituent councils or the Minister, as the case may be, shall, so far as may be practicable, select persons appearing to them or him to have a practical knowledge of land drainage or agriculture.

• (4) In this paragraph " relevant year " means, in relation to any determination, the latest financial year for which, at the time when that determination falls to be made, precepts have been issued under section 87 of the Water Resources Act 1963 (precepts by river authorities) or paragraph 11 below.

Local Land Drainage Committees

4

• (1) It shall be the duty of every regional land drainage committee, subject to any direction given under sub-paragraph (3) below, to submit to the water authority for their area not later than 1st January 1974 or such later date as may in their case be authorised under sub-paragraph (5) below a local land drainage scheme, and any scheme submitted under this sub-paragraph is hereafter in this Part of this Schedule referred to as an initial scheme.

• (2) In this Part of this Schedule " a local land drainage scheme " means a scheme—

• (a) for the creation in a water authority area of one or more districts to be called " local land drainage districts "; and

• (b) for the constitution, membership, functions and procedure of a committee for each such district, to be called the " local land drainage committee " for that district.

• (3) The Minister may, on the application of any water authority, direct—

• (a) that no initial scheme is required for their area ; or

• (b) that such a scheme is required for part of their area, but no such scheme is required for the remainder.

• (4) It shall be the duty of a water authority to send any scheme submitted to them under sub-paragraph (1) above to the Minister not later than 1st February 1974 or such later date as may in their case be authorised under sub-paragraph (5) below.

• (5) The Minister may, on the application of any water authority—

• (a) authorise their regional land drainage committee to submit an initial scheme to them not later than such date after 1st January 1974, but not later than 31st March 1974, as he may specify;

• (b) authorise the authority to submit an initial scheme to him on such date after 1st February 1974, but not after 31st March 1974, as he may specify.

• (6) A regional land drainage committee may at any time submit to a water authority a local land drainage scheme for any part of their area for which there is then no such scheme in force.

• (7) Before submitting a scheme to a water authority under sub-paragraph (6) above, a regional land drainage committee shall consult—

• (a) the councils of counties and districts any part of which will fall within the area to which the scheme is proposed to relate, and

• (b) such organisations representative of persons interested in land drainage or agriculture as the regional land drainage committee consider to be appropriate.

• (8) It shall be the duty of the water authority to send any scheme submitted to them under sub-paragraph (6) above to the Minister.

• (9) A local land drainage scheme may define a local land drainage district—

• (a) by reference to areas established for the purposes of functions relating to land drainage under any enactment in force immediately before the passing of this Act;

• (b) by reference to the water authority area in which that district is situated;

• (c) by reference to a map ;

or partly by one of those means and partly by another or the others.

• (10) A local land drainage scheme may contain incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions.

• (11) The Minister may approve a local land drainage scheme with or without modifications, and—

• (a) an initial scheme approved by him shall come into operation on 1st April 1974; and

• (b) any other scheme so approved shall come into operation on a date fixed by him.

5

• (1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) below, a local land drainage scheme shall provide that any local land drainage committee to which it relates shall consist of not less than eleven and not more than fifteen members.

• (2) A regional land drainage committee may include in a local land drainage scheme which they submit to the water authority a recommendation that a committee to which the scheme relates should consist of a number of members greater than fifteen ; and a scheme so submitted shall be taken to provide for the number of members of a committee if it contains a recommendation under this sub-paragraph relating to that committee.

• (3) The power conferred on the Minister by paragraph 4(11) above shall include power to direct that a committee to which a recommendation under sub-paragraph (2) above relates shall consist either of the recommended number of members or of some other number of members greater than fifteen.

• (4) A local land drainage committee shall consist of—

• (a) a chairman appointed from among their own members by the regional land drainage committee ;

• (b) other members appointed by that committee ; and

• (c) members appointed, in accordance with and subject to the terms of the local land drainage scheme, by or on behalf of constituent councils.

• (5) If any part of a county is in a local land drainage district, the council of that county shall be a constituent council for the local land drainage committee for that district.

• (6) If any part of Greater London is in a local land drainage district, the Greater London Council and the council of any London borough wholly or partly within that district shall each be constituent councils for the local land drainage committee for that district.

• (7) The total number of members appointed to a local land drainage committee by the regional land drainage committee shall be one less than the number of those appointed by or on behalf of constituent councils.

• (8) The members of a local land drainage committee appointed to that committee by the regional land drainage committee shall be appointed from among persons who in the opinion of the regional land drainage committee are qualified to be appointed to the local land drainage committee by their knowledge and experience of land drainage or agriculture.

6

• (1) a regional land drainage committee may at any time submit to the water authority for their area a scheme varying a local land drainage scheme or revoking such a scheme and, if the committee think fit, replacing it with another such scheme.

• (2) Sub-paragraphs (7) to (11) of paragraph 4 above and paragraph 5 above shall apply to a scheme under this paragraph as they apply to a local land drainage scheme which is not an initial scheme.

General

7

• (1) Members of a regional or local land drainage committee other than those appointed by or on behalf of constituent councils shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of their appointment.

• (2) The chairman of a regional land drainage committee may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the chairman of the water authority and to the Minister.

• (3) Any other member of such a committee may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the chairman of the committee and also to the Minister if he was appointed by him.

• (4) Section 3(12) of this Act shall apply in relation to members of a regional or local land drainage committee appointed by or on behalf of a constituent council or constituent councils as it applies in relation to members of a water authority appointed by a local authority or authorities.

• (5) Any member of a regional or local land drainage committee appointed by or on behalf of a constituent council who at the time of his appointment was a member of that council shall if he ceases to be a member of that council, cease also to be a member of the committee at the expiration of the period of three months beginning with the date when he ceases to be a member of the council or on the appointment of another person in his place, whichever first occurs ; but for the purposes of this sub-paragraph a member of a council shall not be deemed to have ceased to be a member of the council by reason of retirement if he has been re-elected a member thereof not later than the date of his retirement;

• (6) The chairman of a local land drainage committee may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the chairman of the regional land drainage committee.

• (7) Any other member of such a committee may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the chairman of the committee.

• (8) Paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 above shall apply in relation to members of a regional or local land drainage committee appointed by or on behalf of a constituent council or constituent councils as it applies in relation to members of a water authority appointed by a local authority or authorities, but with the substitution in sub-paragraph (2) of a reference to the resolution or scheme establishing the committee for the reference to the order establishing the authority.

• (9) A person shall, so long as he is, and for twelve months after he ceases to be, a member of a water authority's regional land drainage committee or any of their local land drainage committees, be disqualified from being appointed to any paid office by the water authority other than the office of chairman of the authority or chairman of their regional land drainage committee or one of their local land drainage committees.

8

• (1) Paragraphs 6 to 10 and 19 of Schedule 3 above shall also apply in relation to regional and local land drainage committees and their proceedings as they apply in relation to water authorities and their proceedings, but as if paragraph 19 gave any such committee power to authorise the signature of documents on their behalf by an officer of the water authority.

• (2) Subsections (1) and (2), (4) to (7) and (9) of section 6 above shall apply to every regional and local land drainage committee as they apply to a water authority, but a regional land drainage committee shall not make arrangements under those provisions, as applied by this paragraph, for the discharge in a local land drainage district of any functions which fall to be discharged there by the local land drainage committee.

• (3) A water authority may not make rules with regard to the proceedings of their regional land drainage committee or any of their local land drainage committees.

9

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a person nominated by one or more constituent councils may act as deputy for a member of a regional or local land drainage committee appointed by or on behalf of that council or those councils and may accordingly (instead of that member) attend and vote at a meeting of the committee.

• (2) A person nominated under sub-paragraph (1) above as deputy for a member of a regional land drainage committee may by virtue of that nomination attend and vote at a meeting of a sub-committee of that committee (other than a meeting of a local land drainage committee) to which the member for whom he is a deputy belongs.

• (3) A person nominated under sub-paragraph (1) above as deputy for a member of a local land drainage committee may attend and vote at a meeting of a sub-committee of that committee to which the member for whom he is a deputy belongs.

• (4) A person acting as deputy for a member of a regional or local land drainage committee shall be treated for the purposes for which he is nominated as a member of that committee.

• (5) A person shall not act as deputy for a member of a regional or local land drainage committee unless his nomination has been notified to an officer of the water authority appointed to receive such nominations.

• (6) A nomination shall be in writing and may apply either to a particular meeting or to all meetings during a stated period or until the nomination is revoked.

• (7) A person shall not act as deputy for more than one member of a regional or local land drainage committee.

PART II — Financial Provisions for Land Drainage

Notional local land drainage districts

10

For the purposes of this Part of this Schedule and of Part III below, a water authority area in relation to which no scheme under paragraph 4 or paragraph 6 above is in force shall be treated as a single local land drainage district, and any parts of such an area in relation to which no such scheme is in force shall be treated as included in a single such district.

Precepts by water authorities

11

• (1) For the purposes of this paragraph the aggregate amount required to be raised by precepts to local authorities by a water authority in respect of a local land drainage district for any financial year shall be ascertained as follows, that is to say—

• (a) subject to paragraph (b) below, that aggregate amount shall be an amount equal to so much of the relevant expenditure of the water authority for that financial year as is neither defrayed out of any reserve fund, replacement fund or sinking fund maintained by the authority nor defrayed out of sums received by the authority in respect of that year and that district otherwise than by virtue of this paragraph ;

• (b) there shall also be added to (or, as the case may be, deducted from) that amount—

• (i) any amount required to be provided in that financial year by way of new working capital;

• (ii) any amount required to be brought forward from a previous financial year;

which is required to be added or deducted in accordance with this paragraph.

• (2) Not later than the month of February immediately preceding each financial year, each water authority shall estimate the aggregate amount required to be raised for that year by precepts to local authorities in respect of each local land drainage district in their area; and the amount so estimated shall be apportioned by the water authority among the local authorities any part of whose area is comprised in a local land drainage district on the basis of the appropriate penny rate product for the relevant area for the relevant year (calculated in accordance with Part III of this Schedule).

• (3) A water authority may issue precepts to local authorities requiring payments of amounts apportioned to those authorities under sub-paragraph (2) above ; and each such authority shall pay, in accordance with any precept issued to them, the amount demanded by that precept.

• (4) If at any time during a financial year it appears to a water authority that the aggregate amount for which they have issued precepts for that year in respect of any local land drainage district will fall short of the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by them for that year in respect of that district, they shall estimate the amount of the deficiency ; and sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) above shall have effect in relation to an amount estimated under this sub-paragraph as they have effect in relation to an amount estimated under sub-paragraph (2) above, except that the words from the beginning of sub-paragraph (2) to " financial year" shall be omitted.

• (5) Subject to sub-paragraph (6) below, the aggregate amount for which precepts in respect of a local land drainage district may be issued under this paragraph for any one financial year to a local authority shall not, unless special consent has been obtained, exceed 1.7 times the appropriate penny rate product for the relevant area of the authority for the relevant year.

• (6) Where a water authority have borrowed or propose to borrow any money under this Act, if a special resolution is passed sub-paragraph (5) above shall have effect, during the currency of the loan, as if for the reference to 1.7 times the appropriate penny rate product for any relevant area there were substituted a reference to such greater amount as may be specified in the resolution.

• (7) In this paragraph " special consent" and " special resolution " mean respectively a consent given and a resolution passed—

• (a) in the case of a local land drainage district with a local land drainage committee, by a majority of the whole number of the local authority members of that committee ; and

• (b) in the case of any other local land drainage district, by a majority of the whole number of those of the local authority members of the regional land drainage committee who were appointed to that committee by or on behalf of constituent councils any part of whose area is in the district.

• (8) It shall be the duty of a water authority to prepare, in such form as the Minister may direct, a statement of the purposes to which the amount demanded by any precept by the authority under this paragraph is intended to be applied, and of the basis on which it is calculated ; and a local authority shall not be liable to pay the amount demanded by any such precept until they have received such a statement.

• (9) It shall also be the duty of a water authority, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, to calculate the amount by which the amount demanded by any precept for that year issued under this paragraph to a local authority in respect of any relevant area exceeds, or falls short of, the amount which would have fallen to be so demanded from that authority if the apportionment under sub-paragraph (2) above had been made, in relation to each of the local authorities referred to in that sub-paragraph, on the basis of the actual penny rate product for that year for the relevant area, multiplied by the appropriate factor for that year notified to the authority with the notification of the conclusive calculation of the amount (if any) of the resources element of rate support grant payable to the authority for that year ; and—

• (a) if in any case the calculation under this sub-paragraph shows an excess, the amount of the excess shall be recoverable by the local authority from the water authority ;

• (b) if in any case it shows a deficiency, the amount of the deficiency shall be recoverable by the water authority from the local authority.

• (10) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, each water authority shall ascertain the actual amount which was the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by them for that year in respect of each local land drainage district in their area and shall determine whether, and (if so) how far, the aggregate amount for which precepts have been issued by them for that year exceeds or falls short of the amount ascertained under this sub-paragraph.

• (11) If the comparison under sub-paragraph (10) above shows an excess or a deficiency, the amount of the excess or deficiency shall be brought forward to the next financial year and (if an excess) shall be deducted, or (if a deficiency) shall be added, in ascertaining the aggregate amount required to be raised by precept by the water authority for that next financial year.

• (12) The duty imposed on water authorities by sub-paragraph (2) above shall apply in relation to the financial year beginning on 1st April 1974 as it applies in relation to any subsequent financial year; and the power of a water authority to issue precepts under sub-paragraph (3) above shall accordingly be exercisable before that day.

• (13) In this paragraph—

• " the appropriate factor " means the appropriate factor as defined by regulations for the time being in force under section 5 of the Local Government Act 1966;

• " the conclusive calculation " means the conclusive calculation notified under such regulations ;

• " local authority " means the council of a county or a London borough;

• " local authority members ", in relation to a committee, means the members of that committee appointed by, or on behalf of, constituent councils;

• " relevant expenditure ", in relation to a local land drainage district, means expenditure by a water authority in the performance of land drainage functions in or for the benefit of that district;

• " the relevant year " means, in relation to any precepts, the financial year for which they are to be issued.

General drainage charges

12

• (1) For section 1 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (general drainage charges) there shall be substituted the following sections:—

(1) (1) Subject to subsection (2) below, a water authority may raise at an amount per acre of chargeable land in a local land drainage district a charge to be known as a general drainage charge and to be levied on the occupiers of the land in accordance with the following provisions of this Part of this Act and sections 24 to 27 and 29 of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968. (2) A water authority shall not levy a general drainage charge in respect of any local land drainage district unless the regional land drainage committee for the authority's area have recommended that such a charge should be raised. (3) In this section and section 1A below, "local land drainage district" has the meaning assigned to it by the Water Act 1973. Amount of general drainage charge. (1A) (1) The general drainage charge raised by a water authority for a local land drainage district for any year shall be at a uniform amount per acre of chargeable land in that district, and that amount shall be ascertained, subject to subsection (2) below, by— (a) dividing the aggregate amount demanded by the precepts issued by the water authority under sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) of paragraph 11 of Schedule 5 to the Water Act 1973 in respect of the year for which the charge is raised by the aggregate amount of the appropriate penny rate products on the basis of which the amount so demanded was apportioned in pursuance of the said sub-paragraph (2); and (b) multiplying the quotient by one new penny and by such number as the Minister may specify by order made for the purposes of this paragraph. (2) The number specified in an order made under subsection (1) above shall (apart from any adjustment made to it to take account of rough grazing land) be such as the Minister considers will secure, so far as reasonably practicable, that the aggregate amount produced by any charge levied by reference to a quotient ascertained in pursuance of subsection (1)(a) above will be equal to the aggregate amount which, if the chargeable land in the local land drainage district were liable to be rated, would be produced by a rate levied on that land at an amount in the pound (of rateable value) equal to that quotient multiplied by one new penny. (3) An order under this section may be made so as to apply either to all general drainage charges or to the general drainage charges proposed to be raised in any one or more water authority areas specified in the order or in any one or more local land drainage districts situated in one or more water authority areas and there specified, and any such order applying to more than one local land drainage district may make different provision as respects the different districts to which it applies. (4) In subsection (1) above "appropriate penny rate product" has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of Schedule 5 to the Water Act 1973 ; but the reference to precepts in paragraph (a) of that subsection does not include precepts issued by virtue of the application of sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 11 of the said Schedule to amounts estimated under sub-paragraph (4) (which authorises the issue of supplementary precepts).

• (2) In accordance with sub-paragraph (1) above section 21(1) of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 (introduction of system of drainage charges on an acreage basis) shall cease to apply to general drainage charges.

PART III — Calculation of Appropriate Penny Rate Product

13

• (1) For the purposes of the application of this Schedule to any water authority area, " relevant area " means, in relation to any local authority, so much of their area as is comprised in any local land drainage district in the water authority area, and the appropriate penny rate product for each relevant area of any local authority for the relevant year shall be calculated in accordance with this paragraph.

• (2) There shall be estimated, in such manner as the Ministers may direct, the amount of the product of a rate of one new penny in the pound for each relevant area of the authority for the relevant year.

• (3) The appropriate penny rate product for each relevant area of the authority for the relevant year shall be the product of a rate of one new penny in the pound for that area for that year as estimated in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) above, multiplied by the appropriate factor as defined by regulations for the time being in force under section 5(3) of the Local Government Act 1966 and as it was most recently estimated and notified by the Secretary of State to the local authority before the time when the calculation in accordance with this paragraph falls to be made.

• (4) In this Part of this Schedule " local authority " has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph 11(13) above and "relevant year"—

• (a) has the meaning assigned to it by sub-paragraph (4) of paragraph 3 above in any case where the appropriate penny rate product falls to be calculated for the purposes of that paragraph ; and

• (b) has the meaning assigned to it by sub-paragraph (13) of paragraph 11 above in any case where the appropriate penny rate product falls to be calculated for the purposes of that paragraph.

PART IV — London

General

14

Nothing in section 9 or section 19(1) above shall make any land drainage function exercisable in the London excluded area by the Thames Water Authority (in this Part of this Schedule referred to as " the water authority ") or any other water authority.

15

The Greater London Council shall be entitled to appoint one member of the water authority's regional land drainage committee.

16

• (1) No part of the London excluded area shall be treated as being in the area of the water authority for the purposes of paragraph 1(5) above.

• (2) No part of the London excluded area shall be included in any local land drainage district.

Duties and powers of Greater London Council and Thames Water Authority

17

• (1) The following provisions of this Act, namely—

• section 4(5)(a) and (b);

• section 8(1) to (4);

• section 22; and

• section 24(5) and (6) and (8) to (12).

shall have effect in relation to the land drainage functions of the Greater London Council as if that Council were a water authority and the London excluded area were their water authority area.

• (2) The Greater London Council shall send the water authority a copy of any report which sets out the results of a survey made by them under section 24(5) above, as applied by sub-paragraph (1) above, and of any programme submitted by them to the Minister under section 24(6) above as applied by that sub-paragraph.

18

• (1) If the Greater London Council intend to carry out any works for the purpose of their land drainage functions or to exercise any of those functions in a manner which is likely to affect the exercise by the water authority of any of their functions in the London excluded area, the Council shall notify the water authority in writing of their intention.

• (2) The water authority may within two months of the date of a notice under sub-paragraph (1) above require the Council to consult with them about any of the matters to which the notice relates.

• (3) If, within a period of two months beginning with the date on which a requirement under sub-paragraph (2) above was sent by the water authority to the Council, the authority and the Council have not reached agreement as to any of the matters to which the notice relates, the authority shall notify the Ministers of that fact and the Ministers shall give directions to the Council as to any such matter.

19

• (1) If the water authority intend—

• (a) to carry out works in their area for the purpose of their land drainage functions or to exercise any of those functions in a manner which is likely to affect the exercise by the Greater London Council of their land drainage functions ; or

• (b) to carry out any works in the London excluded area for the purpose of any of their functions or to exercise any of those functions in that area in a manner which is likely to affect the exercise by the Greater London Council of their land drainage functions;

the authority shall notify the Greater London Council in writing of their intention.

• (2) The Greater London Council may within two months of the date of a notice under sub-paragraph (1) above require the water authority to consult with them about any of the matters to which the notice relates.

• (3) If. within a period of two months beginning with the date on which a requirement under sub-paragraph (2) above was sent to the water authority by the Greater London Council, the authority and the Council have not reached agreement as to any of the matters to which the notice relates, the Council shall notify the Ministers of that fact and the Ministers shall give directions to the authority as to any such matter.

20

The Minister may give the Greater London Council directions, either of a general or of a particular character, as to the exercise by the Council of their land drainage functions.

21

Paragraphs 11 to 14 of Schedule 14 to the London Government Act 1963 shall have effect in relation to the expenses incurred by the Greater London Council in the discharge of the functions conferred on them by virtue of this Part of this Schedule as they have effect in relation to the expenses incurred by them in the discharge of the functions conferred on them by virtue of that Schedule.

Amendments of enactments relating to London excluded area

22

• (1) The amendments specified in this paragraph shall have effect in relation to the London excluded area, and in any such amendment " the metropolitan watercourses" and " the main metropolitan watercourses" have the meanings assigned to them by paragraph 15 of Schedule 14 to the London Government Act 1963.

• (2) After section 36(3) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (enforcement of obligations to repair) there shall be inserted the following subsection:—

(4) The reference in subsection (2) above to the drainage board in whose district a watercourse, bridge or drainage work is situate shall be construed— (a) in relation to the main metropolitan watercourses, as a reference to the Greater London Council; (b) in relation to the metropolitan watercourses, as a reference to that council and the council of the London borough in which it is situate (or if it is situate in the City of London, or in the Inner Temple or the Middle Temple, to the Common Council of tile City); and the reference to a drainage board in subsection (3) above shall be construed accordingly.

• (3) After section 44(9) of that Act (obstructions in watercourses) there shall be added the following subsection:—

(10) Any reference to a drainage board in this section shall be construed— (a) in relation to the main metropolitan watercourses, as a reference to the Greater London Council; (b) in relation to the metropolitan watercourses, as a reference to that council and the council of the London borough in which it is situate (or if it is situate in the City of London, or in the Inner Temple or the Middle Temple, to the Common Council of the City).

• (4) In section 34 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (power of local authorities to undertake drainage works against flooding), after subsection (2A) (which was added to that section by paragraph 25(4) of Schedule 29 to the Local Government Act 1972) there shall be inserted the following subsections:—

(2B) Neither the council of a London borough nor the Common Council of the City of London shall execute any drainage works authorised by this section in connection with any watercourse, except with the consent of the Minister and in accordance with any reasonable conditions imposed by him. (2C) A consent required under subsection (2B) of this section shall not be unreasonably withheld and shall, if neither given nor refused within two months after application therefore is made, be deemed to have been given. (2D) Subsection (2B) of this section shall not apply to any work executed in an emergency, but a council executing any work excepted by this subsection shall as soon as practicable inform the Minister in writing of the execution and all the circumstances in which it was executed. (2E) It shall be the duty of a council to send a copy of any application to the Minister under subsection (2B) of this section to the Greater London Council

.

23

In Schedule 14 to the London Government Act 1963 (land drainage etc.)—

• (a) in paragraph 8, for the word " lie " there shall be substituted the words " immediately before 1st April 1974 lay "; and

• (b) in paragraph 15(3), for the definition of the London excluded area there shall be substituted the following definition—

• " London excluded area " has the meaning assigned to it by section 38 of the Water Act 1973 ;

and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment or instrument, no part of any of the metropolitan watercourses (within the meaning of that Schedule) shall be or form part of a public sewer.

SCHEDULE 6

Part I

General Adaptations of 1972 Act

1

Any reference in any of the applied provisions of the 1972 Act to that Act, other than a reference to a specified provision or Part of that Act, shall be construed as including a reference to this Act.

2

Any reference in any of the applied provisions to another of the applied provisions, as the former provision applies for the purposes of this Act, shall be construed as a reference to that other provision as applied.

3

Any reference in any of the applied provisions to an authority or local authority, as that provision applies for the purposes of this Act, shall—

• (a) if the reference is, or is to be construed as, a reference to an existing authority, be construed as a reference to a transferor body;

• (b) if the reference is, or is to be construed as, a reference to a new authority, be construed as a reference to a transferee authority; and

• (c) if the reference is, or is to be construed as a reference to existing and new authorities, be construed as a reference to transferor bodies and transferee authorities.

Specific adaptations of 1972 Act

4

In section 68, as it applies for the purposes of this Act—

• (a) for the reference in subsection (1) to public bodies affected by the alteration, abolition or constitution of any area by an order under Part IV there shall be substituted a reference to transferor bodies and transferee authorities, and the references in subsection (4) to a public body shall be construed accordingly;

• (b) for the second reference in subsection (1) to alteration, abolition or constitution there shall be substituted a reference to the provisions of this Act; and

• (c) subsections (6) to (9) shall be omitted.

5

• (1) In section 254, as it applies for the purposes of this Act—

• (a) subsections (2)(f), (g) and (i), (7) and (8); and

• (b) in subsection (3), the words " outside Greater London ", in both places where they occur;

shall be omitted, and in subsection (6) the references to Parts I and II shall include a reference to this Act.

• (2) An order under that section may include provision—

• (a) with respect to the supply of water in bulk where the relevant source of supply serves areas which by virtue of this Act become comprised in more than one water authority area;

• (b) with respect to the making of financial adjustments or the termination of financial liabilities in connection with the transfer of functions or property by or by virtue of this Act;

• (c) for the calculation, collection and recovery on behalf of a water authority by a local authority during a transitional period of amounts payable in respect of services provided in the local authority's area by the water authority and for the apportionment during that period of any payment in whole or in part of any demand by a local authority which includes any such amount as between those services and the other purposes for which the demand is made ;

• (d) conferring on a local authority whose interest in any land is on 1st April 1974 transferred to a water authority, or the successor of any such local authority, a right to reacquire the interest on terms provided for by the order if the land subsequently ceases to be used for the purpose for which it was transferred and, while the land is vested in the water authority, a right to use it in circumstances specified in the order;

• (e) enabling any body whose documents on that date are transferred to a water authority or the successor of any such body to inspect and take copies of those documents.

6

• (1) In section 255(2), as it applies for the purposes of this Act,—

• (a) the reference to a local authority who are a council which ceases to exist by virtue of section 1 or 20 shall include a reference to a transferor body ;

• (b) the second reference to sections 1 and 20 shall include a reference to the transfer of functions and abolition of bodies effected by or under this Act; and

• (c) the second reference to a local authority shall include a reference to a transferee authority.

• (2) Section 255(4) shall not apply for the purposes of this Act

7

In section 256(1), as it applies for the purposes of this Act, the reference to sections 1 and 20 shall include a reference to this Act.

8

• (1) In section 257, as it applies for the purposes of this Act—

• (a) in subsection (1) the words from "after consulting" to " concerned " and " for England " shall be omitted and the reference to the Secretary of State shall include a reference to the Minister;

• (b) " relevant authority " means a transferor body and a transferee authority; and

• (c) subsection (4) shall be omitted.

• (2) The staff commission established by virtue of this paragraph shall be known as the Water Services Staff Commission.

9

In section 259(4), as it applies for the purposes of this Act, for the reference to the reorganisation of local government effected by the 1972 Act there shall be substituted a reference to the provisions of this Act.

Supplemental

10

• (1) In this Part of this Schedule—

• " applied " means applied by section 34 above ;

• " existing " and " new " have the same meanings as in the 1972 Act;

• " transferee authority " means a water authority or the Council; and

• " transferor body " means a development corporation, the Water Supply Industry Training Board or any authority or statutory water undertakers whose functions will by virtue of this Act become exercisable by a water authority or an association of such other authorities or such undertakers.

• (2) Any reference in this Part of this Schedule to any enactment without specifying the Act in which it is contained is a reference to a provision of the 1972 Act.

Part II — Local Acts and Instruments

11

Subject to paragraph 12 below, any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which is not continued in force by any other provision of this Act shall—

• (a) notwithstanding the transfer of functions and abolition of bodies effected by or under this Act and, in the case of an instrument made under any enactment, notwithstanding the repeal of that enactment, continue to apply on and after 1st April 1974 to, but only to, the area, things or persons to which or to whom it applies before that date;

• (b) have effect subject to any necessary modifications and to the modifications made by paragraph 13 below;

but the continuation by this paragraph of an instrument made under any enactment shall not be construed as prejudicing any power to vary or revoke the instrument which is exercisable apart from this paragraph.

12

Paragraph 11 above shall have effect subject to the provisions of—

• (a) this Act and any Act passed after this Act and before 1st April 1974;

• (b) any order made under section 254 of the 1972 Act, as applied by section 34 above, or paragraph 14 or 15 below.

13

As from 1st April 1974 any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which immediately before that date applies to an area which on that date becomes comprised in one or more water authority areas shall have effect, so far as relates to functions which on that date become exercisable by a water authority and to things done or falling to be done in the exercise of those functions, as if for any reference to the body by whom the functions were exercisable immediately before that date there were substituted a reference to that water authority, or where the former area becomes comprised in two or more water authority areas, the water authority for the water authority area in or as respects which that thing falls to be done.

14

Paragraph 13 above shall have effect subject to any provision to the contrary made by, or by any instrument made under, this Act and, without prejudice to the foregoing, the Secretary of State may by order provide for the exercise of functions conferred by any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and exclude the operation of that paragraph where it would otherwise conflict with any provision of the order.

15

Where any local statutory provision is continued in force in any area by paragraph 11 above or is amended or modified in its application to any area by an order under section 254 of the 1972 Act, as applied by section 34 above, the appropriate Minister or Ministers may by that order, or in the case of a provision continued as aforesaid, by an order under this paragraph—

• (a) extend the provision throughout the water authority area in which it is continued in force or extend it to a part of that area in which it was not previously in force;

• (b) provide that that provision as so continued, amended, modified or extended shall have effect in that area or part to the exclusion of any enactment for corresponding purposes, including any enactment contained in or applied by this Act;

• (c) make such modifications of any such enactment in its application to that area or part as would secure that the enactment will operate harmoniously with the said provision in that area or part;

• (d) repeal or revoke any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which appears to the appropriate Minister or Ministers to have become spent, obsolete or unnecessary or to have been substantially superseded by any enactment or instrument which applies or may be applied to the area, persons or things to which or to whom that provision applies;

• (e) make such modifications of any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies in its application to a water authority area or part of such an area as appear to the appropriate Minister or Ministers to be expedient.

16

A statutory instrument containing an order under paragraph 15 above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

17

This Part of this Schedule applies to any local statutory provision in force immediately before 1st April 1974 and relating to—

• (a) a body abolished by section 33 above;

• (b) functions which immediately before that date are exercisable by an existing local authority and on that date become exercisable by a water authority; or

• (c) some area constituted for the exercise of functions affected by this Act and situated wholly or partly within Greater London.

SCHEDULE 7

PART I — Byelaws made by the Secretary of State or the Minister

1

At least one month before a byelaw relating to the whole or part of a water authority area is made by the appropriate Minister or Ministers, by virtue of any enactment under which water authorities perform their functions, the appropriate Minister or Ministers shall cause a notice of his or their intention to make the byelaw to be published in the London Gazette and in such other manner as is in his or their opinion best adapted for informing persons affected.

2

The appropriate Minister or Ministers shall also cause copies of the notice under paragraph 1 above to be served on any public authorities who appear to him or them to be concerned.

3

For at least one month before the date on which the byelaw is to come into operation, a copy of it shall be deposited at the offices of the water authority.

4

A water authority shall provide reasonable facilities for the inspection without charge of a byelaw deposited under paragraph 3 above.

5

Any person, on application to the water authority, shall be entitled to be furnished free of charge with a printed copy of such a byelaw.

6

The appropriate Minister or Ministers may fix the date on which a byelaw is to come into operation, and if no date is so fixed it shall come into operation at the end of the period of one month beginning with the date on which it is made.

7

Any byelaw made in accordance with this Part of this Schedule shall be printed and deposited at the office of the water authority, and copies shall, at all reasonable hours, be open to public inspection without charge.

8

Any person on application to the water authority shall be entitled to be furnished with a copy of it, on payment of such reasonable sum as the authority may determine.

9

If it appears to the appropriate Minister or Ministers that the revocation of a byelaw is necessary or expedient, he or they may, after giving notice to the water authority and considering any objections raised by the authority and, if required by the authority, holding a local inquiry, revoke that byelaw.

10

The production of a printed copy of a byelaw purporting to be made in accordance with this Part of this Schedule and upon which is endorsed a certificate purporting to be signed on behalf of the water authority, stating—

• (a) that the byelaw was made in accordance with this Part of this Schedule ;

• (b) that the copy is a true copy of the byelaw ;

• (c) the date, if any, fixed under paragraph 6 above for the coming into operation of the byelaw,

shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate, and without proof of the handwriting or official position of any person purporting to sign the certificate.

11

Subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the 1972 Act shall apply in relation to a local inquiry under this Part of this Schedule as they apply to a local inquiry which a Minister causes to be held under subsection (1) of that section, but with the substitution in subsection (4) for the words " such local authority or " of the words " the water authority or by such ".