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Lord Adonis: My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Baroness's last point. The concept of modernity is very much in the eye of the beholder—when I studied history at university, the concept of the modern stopped at about 1900, so the noble Baroness may have her wishes met in that respect.
Baroness Walmsley: My Lords, if the Minister would like a really interesting take on British values, he could do no better than to ask children. Does he agree that children normally have a well developed sense of justice and fair play? Does he also agree that the discussions that they would have in respect of British values would be more use to them than any set of values imposed by the Government?
Lord Adonis: My Lords, the Government have no intention of imposing values on anyone. As for children's sense of justice and fair play, sometimes that can benefit from instruction in schools and by their elders.
The Lord Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, does the Minister agree that fundamental to the foundation of British values are truth-telling, fairness and hospitality? What plans do Her Majesty's Government have for doing more than teaching history in respect of these?
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Lord Adonis: My Lords, I hope that every good school would regard teaching in those areas as essential to its purpose without the Government needing to provide instructions on how to do it.
Lord Howarth of Newport: My Lords, does my noble friend envisage that teaching British values and modern British history would include educating young people to understand that unrestrained materialism and self-seeking in the quest for a fulfilled life, contrary to an inadequate interpretation of Adam Smith, is a snare and a delusion?
Lord Adonis: My Lords, by the time that students come to study the Wealth of Nations, they will be well equipped to understand the need for balanced arguments and the fact that almost all arguments, particularly in economics, have at least two points of view attached.
Baroness Carnegy of Lour: My Lords, the strongest way of imparting British values in schools is in the way in which people behave in schools: the ethos of the school, the way that staff behave and relate to each other and the way that students relate to each other and to the staff. If that is right, it is much easier for a history lesson or whatever to illustrate to those students how modern British values came about.
Lord Adonis: My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Baroness. That is the answer to the right reverend Prelate, too.
Lord Phillips of Sudbury: My Lords, I declare an interest as president of the Citizenship Foundation. On what the Minister said earlier when he described a patchy implementation of the Government's citizenship education, do the Government have any plans for any form of accreditation of citizenship, given that without some form of accreditation many schools will give it a low priority?
Lord Adonis: My Lords, we do not have specific proposals in that regard. However, as the noble Lord knows, we have developed a half GCSE in the subject, which is now the fastest-growing GCSE available, with 38,000 entries for the citizenship studies short course GCSE last year. We are also developing a full GCSE and an A-level in the subject, so that the availability of courses of high quality for students is being increased substantially.
3.30 pm
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
Brought from the Commons; read a first time, and ordered to be printed.
HBOS Group Reorganisation Bill
Read a third time, and passed.
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Business of the House: Ageing (S and T Report)
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in the name of my noble friend on the Order Paper.
Moved, That the Report of the Select Committee on Science and Technology on Ageing: Scientific Aspects (First Report, HL Paper 20) be referred to a Grand Committee.—(Lord Rooker.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Economic Affairs Committee
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Moved, on behalf of the Committee of Selection, That the Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay be appointed a member of the Select Committee in the place of the Lord Roper.—(The Chairman of Committees.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
European Union Committee
The Chairman of Committees: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Moved, on behalf of the Committee of Selection, That the Lord Roper be appointed a member of the Select Committee in the place of the Lord Goodhart.—(The Chairman of Committees.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Information Committee
The Chairman of Committees: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Moved, on behalf of the Committee of Selection, That the Lord Jones of Cheltenham be appointed a member of the Select Committee in the place of the Lord Smith of Clifton—(The Chairman of Committees.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Water Supply
3.32 pm
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker):
My Lords, with the leave of the House I shall repeat in the form of a Statement the response made to an Urgent Question in another place by my honourable friend the Minister of State, Ian Pearson.
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"The UK has seen below average rainfall for 19 months. In particular, the south-east has been much drier than during the notable drought of 1974-76. The Environment Agency believes that the drought in the south-east has the potential to be the worst for 100 years.
"Water planning is on the basis that each water company has a water resource plan looking ahead 25 years. Water companies also have a drought plan setting out how they will continue to meet their duties during a water shortage.
"I recognise the public concern over leakage rates. Ofwat, the economic regulator, sets targets for leakage and, over the past 10 years, leakage rates have reduced by 30 per cent However, there is more to be done, particularly by some companies. Since privatisation, water companies have invested £55 billion in water and sewerage assets and more than £3.5 billion in 2004–05 alone.
"As the House will be aware, water companies in the south-east have introduced hosepipe and sprinkler bans to manage the drought situation. The recent decision to approve the Sutton and East Surrey drought order application is the next step beyond a hosepipe ban. I am currently considering the independent inspector's reports following the hearings on the drought order applications made by Southern and Mid-Kent Water".
My Lords, that concludes the Statement.
3.34 pm
Baroness Byford: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Answer to the urgent Question tabled by my honourable friend in another place. I have several questions for the Minister.
We have debated in this House, on 30 March, yesterday and on another occasion, the whole question of water and water supply. I do not blame the Government for the lack of rain, but one of the results of this shortage is that the management of our supplies needs looking at. One possibility is the concept of imposing water meters in households. I understand that Ken Livingstone said the other day that in London it is inevitable. If we move to meterage, what precautions will the Government or water companies take to protect the most vulnerable people, who, on the whole, tend to use more water than smaller households?
Thames Water has had an appalling water loss record in recent years. I understand it has missed its target for the past five years. Does the Minister consider that there is enough power within the regulatory authority to get the company to address this situation?
Much of the water is wasted through leakages. I have raised the whole question of investment and pipe replacement before in this House. I understand that a cap has been imposed upon companies. Will the Government review that, and what is the position?
Next I turn to the question of new house build, particularly in the south-east and East Anglia. We have been assured from time to time that water
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provision would be perfectly adequate for these new builds, but I understand that the water companies were unfortunately not included in the discussions when the ODPM was considering the projects. Will the Minister confirm that, and tell us what the Government are doing now to put that right?
Another question that was raised the other night when we were debating water was the number of applications that are coming in for individual abstraction licences. I am sure the Minister will comment on that, because obviously one man's abstraction reduces the supply of water further along the line.
The Bewl reservoir is at an all-time low. How many reservoirs are less than half full, and how many have closed over the past 15 years?
Returning to the house building programme, in which the water companies are supposed to have 25-year plans to cover their needs, is the Minister satisfied that the plans that were in existence are adequate under the circumstances, and, if not, what are the Government doing to persuade the water companies to reconsider this issue?
Human health and safety is the first call on our water supplies, and the household accounts for 45 per cent The restrictions being put in place will have an impact on businesses, tourism and agriculture. What priorities will be given to each of these sectors, and how will they be resolved? Will that be left to the water companies, or will it be dealt with by the Environment Agency?
It is difficult to get a balance between raising awareness of the difficulties placed on the water companies and our needs as individuals without scaremongering, but I am very concerned about the long-term planning for good household provision of water and for business requirements, particularly in view of the growth in building in the south and south-east.
As we know, there is plenty of water in Wales and the north and west of the country. Have the Government given any further consideration to having a national water grid? I know there are disadvantages to that, but we should not just dismiss it. We should actively consider it again.
Those are a very few questions for the Minister. I should be grateful for his response to them. It is a fine balance to know how much we need to conserve and preserve. It could rain tomorrow, but unfortunately our underground water supplies are very sparse and even if we have many downpours it will take some time for them to be replenished. I again thank the Minister for repeating the Statement.
3.40 pm
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