---

Pitt Report

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind words. What we have done on the sewer transfer is effectively to create a sort of national insurance scheme. Individual householders, as Members will be aware from specific cases, can often suddenly realise, ““Heavens, I did not realise that I was responsible for that””. It is a sensible step to have taken. We looked at West Berkshire's proposals and decided that we would fund them. Local authorities have the responsibility to deal with surface water flooding, including from minor watercourses.