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Flood and Water Management Bill

As a militant localist, I have considerable sympathy with the proposition put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, although I think that in this instance he is probably worrying a little too much. I shall explain why in a moment. First, I should like to thank those members of the Bill team who met me on Monday and took the time and trouble to talk about some of the remaining issues in the Bill. Whether they found it useful to talk to me, I do not know, but I certainly found it useful to talk to them. We are talking about the difference between the words "be consistent with" and "have regard to". I am not sure that there is a great deal of difference between them, but if they were ranged on a spectrum that stated at one end, "Must do exactly as we say", while at other end it said, "Do exactly what you want", then clearly they are not in exactly the same place. The phrase "be consistent with" is a bit stronger. We are talking about the relationship between local flood risk management strategies in England and Wales and the national flood risk management strategy. I have to say that the words "be consistent with" seem to be reasonable in this case in that they allow for a sufficient degree of flexibility. It is perfectly possible to think of circumstances in which a range of local options are all consistent with the national strategy, but it is also possible to do things that are not consistent with it. The example of drainage, for example, means that we could be talking about what starts as little dribbles and seepages but ends up as big main rivers; this is going a step too far. In considering the actions of local flood risk management authorities, we are also talking about whether they should be consistent with both the national strategy and the local strategies which the lead authorities are responsible for setting up in the first place. I think that the words "be consistent with" are perfectly reasonable. They do not introduce a degree of subservience that offends my deep-seated sense of localism. On this occasion, therefore, I support what I assume the Minister will come to say.