Office of Public Sector Information
PART IV continued
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, it shall be the duty of the Director to investigate any complaint made or referred to him with respect to the exercise by a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker of any powers conferred on that undertaker by or by virtue of paragraph 4 of Schedule 19 to this Act.
(2) The Director shall not be required to investigate any such complaint as is mentioned in subsection (1) above if—
(a) the complaint appears to the Director to be vexatious or frivolous;
(b) the Director is not satisfied that the complaint has been brought by the complainant to the attention of the water undertaker or sewerage undertaker in question and that that undertaker has been given a reasonable opportunity of investigating and dealing with it; or
(c) the complaint was first made to the Director or the appropriate customer service committee more than twelve months, or such longer period as the Director may for special reasons allow, after the matters to which the complaint relates first came to the notice of the complainant.
(3) Where the Director, in pursuance of his duty under this section, investigates a complaint with respect to the exercise of any powers by a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker—
(a) it shall be the duty of that undertaker to provide the Director with all such information and assistance as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his investigation; and
(b) it shall be the duty of the Director, before giving any direction under subsection (4) below, to consider any representations made to him by the complainant or by that undertaker with respect to the subject-matter of the complaint.
(4) If on a complaint under subsection (1) above with respect to the exercise of any powers by a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker, the Director is satisfied that that undertaker—
(a) has failed adequately to consult the complainant, before and in the course of exercising those powers, about the manner in which they are exercised; or
(b) by acting unreasonably in the manner of its exercise of those powers, has caused the complainant to sustain loss or damage or to be subjected to inconvenience,
the Director may direct the undertaker to pay to the complainant an amount, not exceeding £5,000, in respect of that failure, loss, damage or inconvenience.
(5) The Director shall not under subsection (4) above direct a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker to pay any amount to a complainant in respect of any loss, damage or inconvenience for which compensation is recoverable under any other enactment except in so far as it appears to him appropriate to do so by reason of any failure of the amount of any such compensation to reflect the fact that it was not reasonable for the undertaker to cause the complainant to sustain the loss or damage or to be subjected to the inconvenience.
(6) For the purposes of this section it shall be the duty of every company holding an appointment under Chapter I of Part II of this Act as a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker—
(a) as soon as reasonably practicable after its appointment takes effect, to submit to the Secretary of State for his approval a code of practice with respect to its exercise of any powers conferred by or by virtue of paragraph 4 of Schedule 19 to this Act; and
(b) if required to do so by the Secretary of State at any subsequent time, to submit proposed modifications of that code to the Secretary of State for his approval.
(7) The Secretary of State, if he considers it appropriate to do so for the purpose of promoting what appear to him to be desirable practices with respect to the exercise by any company holding an appointment under Chapter I of Part II of this Act as a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker of any powers conferred by or by virtue of paragraph 4 of Schedule 19 to this Act, may at any time by order made by statutory instrument, in relation to that company—
(a) approve any code of practice with respect to the exercise of those powers which has been submitted to him (whether or not under subsection (6) above) by that company for his approval;
(b) approve any modifications of such a code which have been so submitted; or
(c) withdraw his approval for any such code or modification.
(8) A contravention of a code of practice as for the time being approved under this section in relation to a company shall not affect the powers conferred on that company as a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker by Schedule 19 to this Act or of itself entitle any person to be paid any amount under subsection (4) above or give rise to any criminal or civil liability, but the Director shall take into account whether there has been any such contravention in determining whether to give a direction under that subsection to that company and in determining the amount to which any such direction relates.
(9) Except in the case of an order made before the transfer date or at any time in the period of three months beginning with that date, the Secretary of State shall not make an order under subsection (7) above unless he has first consulted all such persons as he considers it appropriate to consult.
(10) The duties of a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker under subsections (3)(a) and (6) above shall be enforceable under section 20 above—
(a) in the case of the duty subsection (3)(a) above, by the Director; and
(b) in the case of the duty under subsection (6) above, by the Secretary of State;
and any person to whom any amount is required, in pursuance of direction under subsection (4) above, to be paid by a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker shall be entitled to recover that amount from that undertaker by virtue of this section.
(11) The Secretary of State may by regulations substitute a different amount for the amount for the time being specified in subsection (4) above.
Without prejudice to the operation of section 40 of the [1971 c. 78.] Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (planning permission deemed to be granted in certain cases) in relation to any provision made by or under this Act or any other enactment which by virtue of this Act relates to the functions of the Authority or of any water undertaker or sewerage undertaker, nothing in this Act or in any such enactment shall be construed as authorising the carrying out of any development (within the meaning of the said Act of 1971) without the grant of such planning permission as may be required by that Act.
(1) For the purposes of the taking of any steps falling to be taken by a local authority by virtue of a designation under subsection (3)(a) of section 57 above the provisions of this Part shall have effect—
(a) as if the powers conferred by Schedule 19 to this Act and section 154 above on a water undertaker for the purpose of carrying out its functions were also conferred on a local authority for the purpose of ensuring that a supply of water provided by means of a private supply to any premises in the authority’s area is both wholesome and (so far as any house on those premises is concerned) sufficient for domestic purposes;
(b) as if any such power, so far as it is conferred on a water undertaker in relation to things belonging to or operated or used by the undertaker for the purposes of its functions, were conferred by virtue of paragraph (a) above on a local authority in relation to things belonging to or operated or used by that authority, or a relevant person, in connection with the provision of water by means of a private supply;
(c) as if references to a water undertaker in any provision of this Part of this Act relating to a power which is exercisable by a local authority by virtue of the preceding provisions of this subsection, except the references in section 162 above, included references to a local authority; and
(d) as if the making by any person in pursuance of a notice under section 57 above of any payment in respect of sums incurred in the laying of any pipe entitled that person, for the purposes of section 153(2) above, to an interest in the pipe.
(2) Where by virtue of this Act a local authority have power under Part VII of the [1972 c. 70.] Local Government Act 1972 (miscellaneous powers of a local authority) to acquire (whether compulsorily or otherwise) any land or right over land for the purpose of ensuring that private supplies of water to premises in their area are both wholesome and (so far as houses on those premises are concerned) sufficient for domestic purposes, that power shall include power to acquire land or rights over land in order, for that purpose, to dispose of the land or rights to a person who is a relevant person in relation to such a private supply.
(3) In this section—
“private supply” and “wholesome” have the same meanings as in Chapter II of Part II of this Act; and
“relevant person”, in relation to a private supply, means a person who is a relevant person in relation to that supply for the purposes of section 57 above.
(1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, it shall be the duty of the Authority and of every water undertaker to keep records of the location of—
(a) every resource main, water main or discharge pipe which is for the time being vested in the Authority or, as the case may be, that undertaker; and
(b) any other underground works, other than a service pipe, which are for the time being vested in the Authority or, as the case may be, that undertaker.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Authority and of every water undertaker to secure that the contents of any records for the time being kept by it under this section are available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge at an office of the Authority or, as the case may be, of the undertaker.
(3) Any information which is required under this section to be made available by the Authority or a water undertaker for inspection by the public shall be so made available in the form of a map.
(4) For the purpose of determining whether any failure to make a modification of any records kept under this section constitutes a breach of the duty imposed by subsection (1) above, that duty shall be taken to require any modification of the records to be made as soon as reasonably practicable after the completion of the works which make the modification necessary; and, where records kept under this section are modified, the date of the modification and of the completion of the works making the modification necessary shall be incorporated in the records.
(5) Nothing in this section shall require the Authority or a water undertaker, at any time within the period of ten years beginning with the transfer date, to keep records of—
(a) any pipe which was laid before that date; or
(b) any underground works which were completed before that date,
unless those particulars were shown, immediately before that date, on a map kept by a water authority or statutory water company under section 12 of Schedule 3 to the 1945 Act (maps of underground works).
(6) The reference in subsection (5) above to section 12 of Schedule 3 to the 1945 Act shall have effect, without prejudice to section 20(2) of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 (references to enactments to include references to enactments as amended, extended or applied), as including a reference to that section as applied, with or without modifications, by any local statutory provision.
(7) The duties of a water undertaker under this section shall be enforceable under section 20 above by the Secretary of State.
(8) In this section “resource main” and “discharge pipe” have the same meanings as in paragraph 1 of Schedule 19 to this Act.
(1) Subject to subsections (6) and (7) below, it shall be the duty of every sewerage undertaker to keep records of the location and other relevant particulars—
(a) of every public sewer or disposal main which is vested in the undertaker;
(b) of every sewer in relation to which a declaration of vesting has been made, or is treated as having been made, by the undertaker under section 17 of the 1936 Act but has not taken effect; and
(c) of every drain or sewer to which an agreement to make such a declaration relates, being an agreement entered into, or treated as entered into, by the undertaker under section 18 of that Act.
(2) For the purposes of this section the relevant particulars of a drain, sewer or disposal main are (in addition to its location) particulars—
(a) of whether it is a drain, sewer or disposal main and of the descriptions of effluent for the conveyance of which it is or is to be used; and
(b) of whether it is vested in the undertaker or, if it is not, of whether it is a sewer in relation to which a declaration has been made under section 17 of the 1936 Act or a drain or sewer to which an agreement under section 18 of that Act relates;
and the records kept by a sewerage undertaker under this section shall be kept separately in relation to the area of each local authority within whose area there is any drain, sewer or disposal main of which that undertaker is required to keep records.
(3) It shall be the duty of every sewerage undertaker—
(a) so to provide local authorities, free of charge, with copies of the contents of records kept under this section, and with copies of any modifications of those records, as to ensure that every local authority to whose area any of those records relate are at all times informed of the contents for the time being of the records relating to their area; and
(b) to secure that the contents of all the records for the time being kept by the undertaker under this section are available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge at an office of the undertaker.
(4) A local authority shall secure that so much of any information provided to them by virtue of subsection (3)(a) above as consists in the contents for the time being of records kept by a sewerage undertaker under this section is available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge at an office of the authority.
(5) Any information which is required under this section to be provided to a local authority or to be made available by a sewerage undertaker or local authority for inspection by the public shall be so provided or made available in the form of a map.
(6) For the purpose of determining whether any failure to make a modification of any records kept under this section constitutes a breach of the duty imposed by subsection (1) above, that duty shall be taken to require any modification of the records to be made as soon as reasonably practicable after the completion of the works which make the modification necessary; and, where records kept under this section are modified, the date of the modification and of the completion of the works making the modification necessary shall be incorporated in the records.
(7) Nothing in this section shall require a sewerage undertaker—
(a) to keep records of any particulars of a drain, sewer or disposal main laid before the transfer date if—
(i) the undertaker does not know of or have reasonable grounds for suspecting the existence of the drain, sewer or disposal main; or
(ii) it is not reasonably practicable for the undertaker to discover the course of the drain, sewer or disposal main and it has not done so;
or
(b) at any time within the period of ten years beginning with the transfer date, to keep records of any particulars of any other drain, sewer or disposal main laid before that date unless—
(i) those particulars were shown, immediately before that date, on a map kept by a local authority under section 32 of the 1936 Act (sewer maps); or
(ii) it is a drain or sewer in relation to which a declaration of vesting, or an agreement to make such a declaration, has been made under section 17 or 18 of the 1936 Act since the beginning of that period.
(8) The duties of a sewerage undertaker under this section shall be enforceable under section 20 above by the Secretary of State.
(9) In this section—
“the 1936 Act” means the [1936 c. 49.] Public Health Act 1936;
“disposal main” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1 of Schedule 19 to this Act;
“local authority”, in relation to the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, includes, respectively, the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple.
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, if any person without the consent of the Authority or water undertaker—
(a) intentionally or recklessly interferes with any resource main, water main or other pipe vested in the Authority or any water undertaker or with any structure, installation or apparatus belonging to the Authority or any water undertaker; or
(b) by any act or omission negligently interferes with any such main or other pipe or with any such structure, installation or apparatus so as to damage it or so as to have an effect on its use or operation,
that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(2) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) above—
(a) by reason of anything done in an emergency to prevent loss or damage to persons or property; or
(b) by reason of his opening or closing the stopcock fitted to a service pipe by means of which water is supplied to any premises if—
(i) he has obtained the consent of every consumer whose supply is affected by the opening or closing of that stopcock or, as the case may be, of every other consumer whose supply is so affected; and
(ii) in the case of opening a stopcock, the stopcock was closed otherwise than by the undertaker.
(3) Any person who without the consent of the Authority or water undertaker—
(a) attaches any pipe or apparatus—
(i) to any resource main, water main or other pipe vested in the Authority or a water undertaker; or
(ii) to any service pipe which does not belong to such an undertaker but which is a pipe by means of which water is supplied by such an undertaker to any premises;
(b) makes any alteration in a service pipe by means of which water is so supplied, or in any apparatus attached to any such pipe; or
(c) subject to subsection (4) below, uses any pipe or apparatus which has been attached or altered in contravention of this section,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(4) In proceedings against any person for an offence by virtue of paragraph (c) of subsection (3) above it shall be a defence for that person to show that he did not know, and had no grounds for suspecting, that the pipe or apparatus in question had been attached or altered as mentioned in that subsection.
(5) An offence under subsection (1) or (3) above shall constitute a breach of a duty owed to the Authority or, as the case may be, the water undertaker in question; and any such breach of duty which causes the Authority or that undertaker to sustain loss or damage shall be actionable at the suit of the Authority or that undertaker.
(6) The amount recoverable by virtue of subsection (5) above from a person who has committed an offence under subsection (3) above shall include such amount as may be reasonable in respect of any water wasted, misused or improperly consumed in consequence of the commission of the offence.
(7) In this section—
“consumer” has the same meaning as in Chapter II of Part II of this Act; and
“resource main” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1 of Schedule 19 to this Act;
and the references in subsection (1) above to apparatus belonging to a water undertaker do not include references to any meter (within the meaning of Schedule 10 to this Act) which belongs to such an undertaker and is used by it for the purpose of determining the amount of any charges which have (within the meaning of that Schedule) been fixed by the undertaker by reference to volume.
Water Act 1989