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Water Supply

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Answer to the urgent Question tabled by my honourable friend in another place. I have several questions for the Minister. We have debated in this House, on 30 March, yesterday and on another occasion, the whole question of water and water supply. I do not blame the Government for the lack of rain, but one of the results of this shortage is that the management of our supplies needs looking at. One possibility is the concept of imposing water meters in households. I understand that Ken Livingstone said the other day that in London it is inevitable. If we move to meterage, what precautions will the Government or water companies take to protect the most vulnerable people, who, on the whole, tend to use more water than smaller households? Thames Water has had an appalling water loss record in recent years. I understand it has missed its target for the past five years. Does the Minister consider that there is enough power within the regulatory authority to get the company to address this situation? Much of the water is wasted through leakages. I have raised the whole question of investment and pipe replacement before in this House. I understand that a cap has been imposed upon companies. Will the Government review that, and what is the position? Next I turn to the question of new house build, particularly in the south-east and East Anglia. We have been assured from time to time that water provision would be perfectly adequate for these new builds, but I understand that the water companies were unfortunately not included in the discussions when the ODPM was considering the projects. Will the Minister confirm that, and tell us what the Government are doing now to put that right? Another question that was raised the other night when we were debating water was the number of applications that are coming in for individual abstraction licences. I am sure the Minister will comment on that, because obviously one man’s abstraction reduces the supply of water further along the line. The Bewl reservoir is at an all-time low. How many reservoirs are less than half full, and how many have closed over the past 15 years? Returning to the house building programme, in which the water companies are supposed to have 25-year plans to cover their needs, is the Minister satisfied that the plans that were in existence are adequate under the circumstances, and, if not, what are the Government doing to persuade the water companies to reconsider this issue? Human health and safety is the first call on our water supplies, and the household accounts for 45 per cent The restrictions being put in place will have an impact on businesses, tourism and agriculture. What priorities will be given to each of these sectors, and how will they be resolved? Will that be left to the water companies, or will it be dealt with by the Environment Agency? It is difficult to get a balance between raising awareness of the difficulties placed on the water companies and our needs as individuals without scaremongering, but I am very concerned about the long-term planning for good household provision of water and for business requirements, particularly in view of the growth in building in the south and south-east. As we know, there is plenty of water in Wales and the north and west of the country. Have the Government given any further consideration to having a national water grid? I know there are disadvantages to that, but we should not just dismiss it. We should actively consider it again. Those are a very few questions for the Minister. I should be grateful for his response to them. It is a fine balance to know how much we need to conserve and preserve. It could rain tomorrow, but unfortunately our underground water supplies are very sparse and even if we have many downpours it will take some time for them to be replenished. I again thank the Minister for repeating the Statement.