Water Act 1973

• “local statutory provision” means a provision of a local Act (including an Act confirming a provisional order) or a provision of a public general Act passed with respect to some area or a provision of an instrument made under any such local or public general Act or of an instrument in the nature of a local enactment made under any other Act;

• “London excluded area” has the meaning given by section 116 of the Land Drainage Act 1976;

• “the 1972 Act” means the Local Government Act 1972;

• “public authority” includes a statutory water company;

• “public sewer” has the same meaning as in the Public Health Act 1936 and “private sewer” shall be construed accordingly;

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “river authority”, “underground strata”, “inland water”, “watercourse” and “water resources” have the same meanings respectively as in the Water Resources Act 1963;

• “statutory water company” means a company authorised immediately before the passing of this Act by any local statutory provision to supply water or a company in whom the assets of any company so authorised have subsequently become vested;

• “statutory water undertakers” has the meaning assigned to it by section 11(6) above;

• “supply of water in bulk” and “water fittings” have the same meanings as in the Water Act 1945;

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, applied or extended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

Commencement

39

• (1) The following provisions of this Act shall come into operation on 1st April 1974, that is to say—

• section 9, except so far as relating to sections 21 and 22 of the Land Drainage Act 1930, Part VI of the Local Government Act 1948, section 21 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 and section 82 of the Water Resources Act 1963;

• section 10;

• section 11, except subsection (6) so far as relating to section 12 of the Water Act 1945;

• section 12(1) and (6) to (11), except subsections (9) and (11) so far as relating to section 12 of the Water Act 1945;

• section 13(3) and (4);

• section 14;

• section 16;

• section 17;

• section 18;

• section 19(6) to (11);

• section 20;

• section 21(3) to (6);

• section 24;

• section 25;

• section 28;

• section 29(1);

• section 33;

• section 40(2), except so far as relating to the amendments of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 made by Schedule 8;

• section 40(3).

• (2) Any provision of, or any instrument made under, another Act which is modified or amended by a provision of this Act which comes into operation before 1st Aril 1974 shall between the passing of this Act and that date have effect both as modified or amended by this Act and as it would have had effect without the modification or amendment.

Short title, minor amendments, repeals and extent

40

• (1) This Act may be cited as the Water Act 1973.

• (2) The enactments specified in Schedule 8 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments, modifications and adaptations set out in that Schedule, being amendments, modifications and adaptations which are consequential on the foregoing provisions of this Act and minor amendments.

• (3) The enactments specified in Schedule 9 to this Act (which include enactments that were obsolete or unecessary before the passing of this Act) are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in column 3 of that Schedule.

• (4) The following provisions of this Act, that is to say—

• (a) section 4(5) to (8), so far as relating to the matters mentioned in section 4(5)(d) and (e);

• (b) section 9, so far as relating to any enactment which extends to Scotland;

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (d) paragraphs 43, and 93 of Schedule 8;

• (e) in Schedule 9, the repeals in the Water (Scotland) Act 1967; and

• (f) so much of this Act as relates to the interpretation or commencement of the foregoing provisions;

extend to Scotland, but except as aforesaid this Act does not extend to Scotland.

• (5) This Act, except section 4(5) to (8), so far as relating to the matters mentioned in section 4(5)(d) and (e) . . . and so much of this Act as relates to the interpretation of those provisions, does not extend to Northern Ireland.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SCHEDULES 1 AND 2

SCHEDULE 2

PART I — Boundaries of Water Authority Areas

General

1

• (1) An order under section 2 above which establishes a water authority or alters the boundaries of a water authority area shall define the water authority area to which it relates, and any waters comprised in it which it is necessary to define for the purpose of the exercise of any of the water authority's functions, in such a way that that area and any such waters can be identified by members of the public and. without prejudice to the 'generality of this paragraph, any such order may define the whole or any part of a water authority area or of any such waters—

• (a) by reference to areas or waters defined for the purposes of the exercise of functions relating to water in enactments in force immediately before the passing of this Act;

• (b) by reference to any map;

• (c) by reference to any instrument made under an enactment;

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

• (2) For the purposes of this Schedule a map of any area or any waters may consist of a number of maps of parts of that area or those waters and there may be different maps in relation to different functions of a water authority.

• (3) In this Part of this Schedule " low-water mark " means low-water mark of ordinary spring tides, and "the sea" includes any bay, estuary or arm of die sea.

Seaward boundaries of water authority areas for general purposes

2

• (1) Without prejudice to section 19(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1961, the seaward boundary of a water authority area for the purposes of the functions of the authority shall, except as provided by an order under section 2 above or paragraph 3, 4 or 5 below, be low water mark on the coast of the area.

• (2) Subject to any order made under section 2 above, where a river, stream or other watercourse, whether natural or artificial and whether tidal or not, or any creek in so far as it does not form part of such a watercourse, discharges into the sea, the whole of the mouth of the watercourse within a line from low-water mark at the seaward extremity of one bank to low-water mark at the seaward extremity of the other bank, or the whole of the creek within such a line, as the case may be, shall form part of a water authority area, and, if both banks are in the same water authority area, shall form part of that water authority area.

• (3) Where the entrance to a dock is on the coast, the whole of the dock shall form part of a water authority area, and, if both sides of the dock are in the same water authority area, shall form part of that water authority area.

• (4) Where sub-paragraph (2) or sub-paragraph (3) above applies, but the banks of the watercourse or creek or the sides of the dock, as the case may be, are in different water authority areas, an order under section 2 above may designate the water authority area in which any part of the watercourse, creek or dock is to be comprised.

3

In any such case as is mentioned in paragraph 2(4) above, an order under section 2 above may designate any tidal waters and direct that, so far as they are below low-water mark, they shall be excluded from all the water authority areas ; and an order made solely for that purpose may designate the waters to which it applies as being all tidal waters which, in so far as they are below low-water mark, lie to seaward of a line specified in the order by reference to a map.

Seaward boundaries for the purposes of fisheries functions

4

• (1) Subject to any order under section 2 above, for the purposes of the functions of a water authority relating to fisheries, the area of the authority shall include those tidal waters and parts of the sea adjoining the coast of the water authority area in which Her Majesty's subjects have the exclusive right of fishing.

• (2) Any question arising under this paragraph as to the extent of the area of a water authority shall be determined by the Minister, whose decision shall be final.

Seaward boundaries for the purposes of river pollution functions

5

• (1) Subject to any order under section 2 above, for the purposes of the functions of a water authority relating to the restoration and maintenance of the wholesomeness of rivers and other waters, the area of the authority shall include those tidal waters and parts of the sea adjoining the coast of the water authority area to which any of the provisions of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act 1951 apply—

• (a) by virtue of an order made, or having effect as if made, under section 6 of that Act; or

• (b) by virtue of section 9(2) of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act 1961 (which applies certain provisions of that Act to controlled waters as defined in the Clean Rivers (Estuaries and Tidal Waters) Act 1960).

• (2) Any question arising under this paragraph as to the extent of the area of a water authority shall be determined by the Secretary of State, whose decision shall be final.

PART II — Maps

6

In this Part of this Schedule—

• " area map " means a map of a water authority area;

• " main river map " means a map of a water authority area relating to a water authority's land drainage functions— which shows by a distinctive colour the extent to which any watercourse in that area is to be treated as the main river, or part of the main river, for the purposes of Part II of the Land Drainage Act 1930, and which indicates (by a distinctive colour or otherwise) which (if any) of those watercourses are watercourses designated in a scheme made under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (designation of watercourses for drainage works in the interests of agriculture).

7

As soon as practicable after the coming into force of an order under section 2 above establishing a water authority or altering a water authority area, the Secretary of State shall send the authority one or more maps which are to be their area map in relation to their functions, except their land drainage functions, or shall notify them of-one or more maps which are to be their area map as aforesaid, or partly one and partly the other.

8

The main river maps on 1st April 1974 shall consist of the following maps, in so far as not replaced by maps sent to water authorities under paragraph 9 below:—

• (a) in the case of the areas which immediately before that date consisted of the Thames Catchment Area and the Lee Catchment Area, of maps prepared under section 5 of the Land Drainage Act 1930 and current immediately before that date,

• (b) in the case of other areas, of main river maps kept by river authorities immediately before that date under section 11 of the Water Resources Act 1963,

and in either case, shall also consist of any maps sent to water authorities under paragraph 9 below.

9

The Minister may at any time send a water authority one or more new maps to be substituted for the whole or part of the main river map of the authority's area, and containing a statement to that effect specifying the date on which the substitution is to take effect; and the substitution shall take effect in accordance with the statement.

10

Until a main river map of a water authority area has been prepared showing the boundaries of that area for the purposes of the water authority's land drainage functions, the boundaries of the water authority area as shown on the area map for the purposes of the authority's functions relating to water conservation shall be treated also as the boundaries of the water authority area for the purposes of their land drainage functions.

11

• (1) Where—

• (a) the area of a water authority is altered so as to affect any of the particulars shown on their main river map, or

• (b) the Minister confirms a scheme under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1961, or

• (c) a water authority apply to the Minister for the variation of their main river map, so far as it shows the extent to which any watercourse is to be treated as the main river or part of the main river,

the Minister shall take such action as he considers appropriate either—

• (i) by requiring the relevant water authority to send him any part of their main river map, altering it and sending it back to them, or

• (ii) by preparing a new main river map and sending it to the water authority, or

• (iii) by notifying the authority that he does not intend to vary their main river map.

• (2) Before altering a map or preparing a new map under paragraph (c) of sub-paragraph (1) above the Minister shall give notice of his intention to do so in such manner as he thinks best adapted for informing persons affected, and shall consider any objections made to him within the time and in the manner specified in that notice, and may then alter or prepare the map, whether in accordance with the proposals contained in the notice or otherwise.

12

• (1) Every water authority shall, subject to paragraph 11(1) above, keep their area maps at their principal office and provide reasonable facilities for inspecting those maps and taking copies of and extracts from them.

• (2) Any local authority whose area is wholly or partly within a water authority area shall, on application to the water authority, be entitled to be furnished with a copy of any of the authority's area maps, on payment of such sum as the local authority and the water authority may agree.

13

• (1) An area map relating to any functions shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes as to the boundaries of the water authority area in relation to those functions.

• (2) A main river map shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes as to what is the main river.

• (3) An area map shall be taken to be a document within the meaning of the Documentary Evidence Act 1868, as that Act applies to the Secretary of State and the Minister; and that Act, as it so applies shall have effect—

• (a) in relation to an area map other than a main river map, as if it had been issued by the Secretary of State and the Minister acting separately and not jointly ;

• (b) in relation to a main river map, as if it had been issued by the Minister.

PART III — Alteration of Boundaries

14

• (1) Before making an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area the Ministers shall—

• (a) consult with such persons or representative bodies as they consider it appropriate to consult at that stage;

• (b) prepare a draft order;

• (c) cause a notice to be published in the London Gazette and in such other manner as they think best adapted for informing persons affected—

• (i) stating their intention to make the order and its general effect;

• (ii) specifying the places where copies of the draft order and of any map to which it refers may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable times during the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date on which the notice is first published otherwise than in the London Gazette ; and

• (iii) stating that any person may within that period by notice in writing to the Ministers object to die making of the order.

• (2) The Ministers shall also cause copies of the notice and of the draft order to be served on any public authorities who appear to them to be concerned.

15

• (1) Before making an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area, the Ministers shall consider any objections which may be duly made to the draft order, and may if they think fit cause a local inquiry to be held with respect to any such objections; and the Ministers may make the order either in the form of the draft or in that form as altered in such manner as they may think fit, but no order shall be made so as to include in any water authority area any tidal waters which would have been outside all the water authority areas if the order had been made in the form of the draft.

• (2) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the 1972 Act shall apply in relation to a local inquiry under this paragraph 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 " such water authority or ".

16

• (1) Where an objection has been duly made by any body on whom notice is required to be served under paragraph 14 above and has not been withdrawn, then, if the order is made, the Ministers shall serve notice of the making of the order on every such body who has duly made an objection which has not been withdrawn.

• (2) Where a notice is required to be served under sub-paragraph (1) above, the order shall not have effect before the expiry of a period of twenty-eight days from the date of service of that notice; and if within that period any such body gives notice to either of the Ministers objecting to the order, and the objection is not withdrawn, the order shall be subject to special parliamentary procedure.

17

A statutory instrument containing an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area which is not subject to special parliamentary procedure shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

18

After making an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area the Ministers shall publish in the London Gazette, and in such other manner as they think best adapted for informing persons affected, a notice stating that the order has been made and naming the places where a copy of the order may be seen at all reasonable hours:

19

• (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, if any person desires to question the validity of an order altering the boundaries of a water authority area on the ground that it is not within the powers of this Act, or that any requirement of this Act has not been complied with, he may, within six weeks after the first publication of the notice required by paragraph 18 above, make an application for the purpose to the High Court; and if any such application is duly made, the court, if satisfied that the order is not within the powers of this Act or that the interests of the applicant have been substantially prejudiced by any requirements of this Act not having been complied with, may quash the order either generally or in so far as it affects the applicant.

• (2) Sub-paragraph (1) above shall not apply to any order which is confirmed by Act of Parliament under section 6 of the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945, and shall have effect in relation to any other order which is subject to special parliamentary procedure by virtue of the provisions of this Schedule as if for the reference to the first publication of the notice required by paragraph 18 above there were substituted a reference to the date on which the order becomes operative under the said Act of 1945.

• (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.