It is now confirmed that the debate on Second Reading of the Water Bill will take place next Monday 25 November 2013, starting mid afternoon.
For those who found the 177 page Bill, 52 page Explanatory Notes and 14 separate Impact Assessment documents published last June a bit heavy going, Defra has now published (19 November) a handy series of 10 briefing notes plus glossary which, in a mere 50 odd pages, provide the background case for the Bill and a summary of its intended objectives.
The Bill itself is certainly pretty indigestible, comprising in particular a huge number of textual amendments to the Water Industry Act 1991 which are more or less incomprehensible without the commentary upon them and a mark-up (which is not provided) of the 1991 Act itself. More about that in a future blog entry.
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