Lords division · 24 Jun 2003 · No. 4

Water Bill [HL]

It was moved by the Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer, in Clause 64, page 81, line 25, at end to insert: “(5) Subsections (1) to (4) above shall have effect until December 2007. (6) On 1st December 2007 section 14 (regional flood defence committees) of the Environment Act 1995 shall be repealed. (7) From 1st December 2007 the Secretary of State shall, by order, establish a river basin management committee in place of each regional flood defence committee which will cease to exist under subsection (5). (8) The timescale for the establishment of river basin management committees under subsection (7) shall be in accordance with Article 14 of the Water Framework Directive. (9) Each river basin management committee shall include— (a) elected local authority members from the local authorities which are located in part or entirely within the river basin covered by the committee; and (b) other members whom the Secretary of State considers to offer substantial local knowledge on issues within the competence of the committee. (10) Each river basin management committee shall inherit all of the powers and duties of the regional flood defence committee it shall replace. (11) Each river basin management committee shall develop policies and a river basin management plan in consultation with the Environment Agency. (12) Each river basin management committee may, where the size of the river basin so necessitates, and after consulting the Secretary of State, establish such sub-basin management committees as it considers appropriate. (13) From 1st December 2007 the amendments made in subsections (2) to (4) to Schedule 4 to the Environment Act 1995 shall have effect as if references to regional flood defence committee or any variant thereof were to river basin management committee or the appropriate variant.”; which being objected to, the question was put thereupon, and the House divided:

The Not Contents have it

Majority 13

Contents: 17 Not Contents: 30

At a glance The Not Contents won by a margin of 13 votes. The Government's position was Not Content, and it won.

How the parties voted

Contents

Conservative	9
Liberal Democrat	7
Non-affiliated	1

Not Contents

Labour	28
Crossbench	1
Non-affiliated	1

The party breakdowns are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.

Peers attend divisions ad hoc, so there is no did-not-vote list. Tellers are counted in the Content and Not Content totals, unlike in the Commons.

Tellers: Lord Livsey of Talgarth (Content), Lord Shutt of Greetland (Content), Baroness Crawley (Not Content), Lord Grocott (Not Content).