---

Business of the House

The Leader of the House will have read early-day motion 1587, which was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Mr. Taylor) and is about the proposed sale by the Environment Agency of 22 lock-keepers' houses along the Thames. [That this House is concerned about the Environment Agency's proposal to dispose by sale or letting of 22 lock-keepers' homes along the Thames; recognises the importance of lock-keepers being resident in homes adjacent to locks to maintain safety on the river; fears for the welfare of the lock-keepers and their families; and calls on the Government to ask the Environment Agency to re-examine its decision so as to protect this unique part of the nation's river heritage and the tradition of lock-keepers living at the site of locks.] Will the Leader of the House find time for a debate on the motion so that those of us with constituencies adjoining the Thames can express constituents' concern about the effect of that proposal on river users, lock-keepers and their families, safety and the social ecology of the Thames?