Draft Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2018

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2018.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Henry. The purpose of the order is to amend the Planning Act 2008, which sets out a streamlined national planning process for important infrastructure projects that are nationally significant. If a project meets certain thresholds set out in the Act, it will be considered under the Act, with the Secretary of State as the decision maker.

The order will change the thresholds under which reservoirs, dams and water transfers will qualify as nationally significant. The order will also introduce a further infrastructure type—desalination plants—to which the Planning Act regime can apply. That reflects our conclusion that the criteria set out in the Act did not reflect water resource infrastructure that might be regarded as nationally significant.

We consulted on our initial proposals last November and on our more detailed proposals in April. There was general support for our broad approach among the major stakeholders that responded, which included water companies, environmental organisations and other interested organisations. Those who disagreed tended to consider the thresholds to be either too high or too low, or they thought that we should focus on reducing the demand for water.

In reaching a conclusion on the new thresholds, we considered several factors, including the physical size of the infrastructure in question, the size of the population that could be served by its output and the major infrastructure that the Government anticipate will be needed in future. That is likely to require developers to engage with a number of planning authorities and other regulatory regimes. We also wish to move towards a level playing field, so that different water resource schemes are all required to meet thresholds that are as consistent as possible to qualify for consideration under the Act. That should help to prevent developers from favouring one scheme over another just because they prefer one planning route to another.

In making this amendment, we are introducing a consistent metric to measure the output of each infrastructure type. That metric is known as deployable output, and it is commonly used by the water industry for water resource planning. Deployable output is an annual average measure of the number of litres of water that a particular piece of infrastructure can be expected to produce in a day under drought conditions. We concluded that a project that is expected to have a deployable output of 80 million litres a day—a level that can serve a population of around half a million people—is a nationally significant infrastructure project.

As I have explained, the order will amend qualifying thresholds for two existing infrastructure types that are mentioned in the Act and introduce a third: desalination plants. In the case of water transfers, the order will reduce the threshold that projects need to meet to qualify as nationally significant in line with the number of people served—for example, 80 million litres per day.

For reservoirs, there will now be two ways to qualify for the streamlined planning process under the Act. The order will introduce a deployable output measure consistent with transfers. However, we have chosen to retain a measure based on physical volume, recognising that the size of reservoirs matters to local communities, both because of the impact that they can have on neighbouring communities and because a large reservoir that takes a long time to drain down, and thus has a relatively low deployable output, can be an important part of overall water resource resilience. We have increased the volume for reservoirs to qualify under the Act from 10 million cubic metres to 30 million cubic metres.

We have also introduced desalination plants as a new infrastructure type. Consistent with the other infrastructure types, if the deployable output of a given desalination plant is expected to exceed 80 million litres per day, the project can be considered under the Act.

I turn to the benefits of the Planning Act 2008 regime. Although it is right for decisions on nationally significant infrastructure to be taken at a national level, it is vital that the communities that are directly affected have their say and are heard in the decision-making process. The Act and the regulations made under it set out the consultation requirements for development consent order applications. I assure the Committee that applicants will have to undertake extensive pre-application consultation and engagement with those who are affected. Furthermore, members of the public can participate in the examination process by registering their interests, giving evidence when they are called on to do so and submitting written evidence, thus ensuring that local views are heard.

The main benefit will be to enable nationally significant infrastructure projects to be developed at a reasonable speed, and the main benefit to the developer of the projects meeting the criteria in the Act is that the consenting process will be less complex with quicker decision making. Consent requirements such as planning permission, listed buildings consent and scheduled ancient monument consent will be replaced by a single consent issued by the Secretary of State, following advice provided by the Planning Inspectorate.

It is the Government’s intention to publish a national policy statement for water resources infrastructure under the Planning Act. The policy statement will summarise Government policy on water resource infrastructure, including setting out the need for nationally significant infrastructure. It will make clear what the Government expect a planning inspector should take into account when examining an application. We plan to lay a draft of that in Parliament by the end of the year and I look forward to engaging with the House on it in more detail next year.

The amendments in the order are part of how we make sure we have enough water now and in future. Population growth, climate change and making sure we leave enough water in the environment will become more challenging in future. We expect proposals for nationally significant infrastructure to originate from statutory water resource management plans as those are where options to reduce demand and increase supply have been assessed. We know that some new infrastructure will be needed to meet water demand in future. Our assessment of the current draft water resource management plans is that about half a dozen proposed projects, needing to start in the next decade or so, are likely to qualify as nationally significant if the Act is amended by the proposed order. For all those reasons, I commend the motion to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Thérèse Coffey]

It is a pleasure to respond to the many contributions from hon. and right hon. Members on this important order, which I hope will gain their support. The shadow Minister asked a series of questions. It is important to stress that we are very conscious of the impact of abstraction on the natural environment; that is why I referred to it in my opening remarks. We believe that it is sensible to use transfers and reservoirs to try to make sure that water companies create less strain with such abstraction.

When it comes to leaks, the shadow Minister will be aware that we set the water companies a target of, I think, 15% or 16% by 2025. He mentioned something about household indoor pipes. I think his proposal is interesting, but it is not—without wanting to be too rude—a new one. It would be unparalleled for a utility company to be responsible for infrastructure inside somebody’s house, whether we are talking about a dripping tap or leakage in a pipe, and we would have to think carefully about whether that was the right approach to take. That does not mean that we should not make people more aware of how much water they are using—or, indeed, losing—by not taking direct action.

Regional quotas are simply not practical, but I agree with the shadow Minister and I will say “watch this space” when it comes to getting water companies to work together on a regional basis, recognising that they cross catchments. On the point about considering local plans, what is happening between local councils and the need for water infrastructure, water companies input into the local plans and vice versa. When the water resource management plans are put out—I think they have just closed for consultation—councils get their opportunity to see whether the water companies’ proposals are sufficient or necessary for future housing or commercial development.

Regarding the amount of water that is used in homes, the Committee should be aware that there are already regulations on new housing, which has per capita consumption targets lower than the national average. Councils can go even lower than that if they want to, particularly if they are in water-stressed areas. There are already powers in place for councils to take account of. I also understand the aspect about leaks. Of course that would reduce the demand for water, but the National Infrastructure Commission indicated that even with the most ambitious reductions in consumption by people, and a reduction in leaks, there would still not be enough for future needs. That is another reason why the measure is important.

In response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Wantage, the figure of 80 million litres per day was chosen on the basis that that is the estimate of what is needed for about half a million people. We want to keep it consistent between infrastructure types. He mentioned having both a size and an output measure, but it is actually either/or. My understanding is that the reservoir that Thames Water has put in its plan for consultation achieves both. Some of the projects being considered by water companies such as Anglian Water and Severn Trent Water are examples of where the matter would come down to size only.

Understandably, transfer is an issue. I believe that Thames Water has put a transfer proposal in the plan, although admittedly for a later date. I also understand that United Utilities and Severn Trent Water are committed to looking at the transfers in more detail, which may answer another earlier question.

I am not aware of where any concept of population figures has come from, and I am not aware of any rumours about shareholders. Following on from the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Newbury, I genuinely do not believe that that is the motivating factor in trying to anticipate future needs. I am aware that Thames Water has put in for an additional desalination plant in its plan, which recognises that, as well as tackling leakage, its real challenge is to continue to provide water when somebody turns the tap on, rather than restricting what they can have.

I fully recognise how important the consultation process is to us all as MPs with our own constituents. I am sure that several hon. Members have experience of local planning and the NSIP process. On the NSIP process, it is fair to say that, as an MP, I find that the pre-consultation process is often much more substantial than for a planning application that is just going through the local council, but the extension of the process then comes into play.

It is absolutely clear that a comprehensive pre-consultation process has to happen. The planning inspector takes that into account during their consideration or examination of the development consent order that is put to them, and the Secretary of State can do the same at the same time. It is not just about the pre-planning consultation. Residents and businesses can then participate in the planning examination process, which is due to take a maximum of 12 months.

In regard to the various bodies that have been mentioned, there is no reason for people to feel excluded from consultation in any way. As was recognised when the previous Government introduced the regime, it is very important that that is still critical to taking such planning applications forward.

I think I have covered all the questions that were asked, apart from the one from the hon. Member for Pontypridd. When will we get on with it? Thames Water has put forward its proposal. Even if the order is not made—I hope it will be, because it will help us to get on with tackling the challenge—it has indicated that it proposes to do it in about 2024, but other processes are in place as well.

Finally, I fully understand the frustration of my right hon. Friend the Member for Newbury. I am conscious of the innovation of water companies and other suppliers to try to tackle it. The need to ensure that we have a good water supply, which is of a good quality for the environment, is a recognised challenge across Government, but I understand his point and I will continue to make constant efforts to ensure that it is high on the agenda of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. With that, I hope that the Committee will vote to support the motion.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2018.