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Water Management: S&T Report

My Lords, there need not be confusion, but I will not go into great detail. Delivery vehicles have been set up in all the growth areas, some of which are statutory, like the development corporations, while others are voluntary, sometimes led by the local authority and involving all the players. All of the four particular growth areas have to go through a public examination when they have decided where, broadly, growth will take place. So there is a full examination in public by independent inspectors who do not come from the department. The department has to give its evidence to the public examination. There is a full, transparent and open process. When a planning application for an individual site is submitted by a developer, whether it is the development corporation or an individual developer, the normal planning process kicks in, whether that is done by the local authority, or, in the case of a statutory body, the statutory development corporation. There are no shortcuts in the normal planning process. Moreover, along with full planning consideration, long-term discussions are going on into a 25-year scenario for the growth areas. But these myths come about and are borne about by some people—I do not say anyone in this House—who basically do not want the houses built in the first place. That is what it is really about: not accommodating houses for local people so that their children and grandchildren have to disappear to other regions of the country. That is because most of the growth in the south-east comes from indigenous growth. I have done less than justice to colleagues’ speeches, but I hope that I have got the message of the debate. The Government certainly have. We find the report very valuable except for one or two points. Some of the criticisms might be unfounded, but we are at one when we say that water management is a serious issue. The Government cannot do it all. We need to work with our partners. We have a legacy of poor investment and a legacy of poor understanding which we have to address, but on a whole range of issues I am fairly confident that action is being taken and we can make progress. I would be more than happy if, in the fullness of time, the committee wanted to revisit the issue. That is what needs to happen. The checks and balances on government by way of scrutiny by Select Committees should not just be one-off reports. Eighteen months or two years down the line, the committees should ask how much progress has been made. That is where real parliamentary accountability comes from. I will try to distil the points raised which I have not been able to touch on and write a general note to noble Lords.