Consultation on the Rules of Court for the water and sewerage special administration regime

Dear Consultee,

1. I am writing to invite views on the draft Water Industry (Special Administration) Rules 2009 statutory instrument clarifying the court arrangements and the roles of the parties to special administration proceedings as outlined in sections 23 to 24 and Schedules 2 and 3 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91).   In common with other regulated sectors such as energy and rail, there is a special administration regime within water legislation that lays down the procedures that must be followed in the event of a company becoming insolvent or is otherwise failing to such an extent that it is no longer appropriate for it to continue operating.  This follows a commitment made in Future Water – the Government’s Water Strategy for England, whenDefra announced that it was considering introducing Rules for water companies in special administration.  These Rules as outlined in the draft statutory instrument will help ensure that a company transfer will run smoothly should a company ever find itself in difficulties. 

2. The following documents may be found on Defra’s website:  www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/water-admin/index.htm.

  • consultation letter;
  • list of consultees;
  • consultation document; and
  • Draft Water Industry (Special Administration Rules) 2009

3. We welcome your views and comments on the draft statutory instrument. If you wish to obtain a paper copy of this consultation please contact David S Jones, Area 2C, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL (020 7238 5989).

Responses

4. Please send responses to either: David S Jones, Defra, Area 2C, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL (020 7238 5989). Or email: special.admin@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Consultees in Wales should also copy their replies to: Olwen Minney, Water Policy Branch, Climate Change & Water Division, Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ. Or email: olwen.minney@wales.gsi.gov.uk

5. Responses should be received by 20 March 2009.

Consultation Criteria

6. This consultation is in line with the Code of practice on Consultations. This can be found at: www.berr.gov.uk/bre/.

7. When this consultation ends, we intend to put a copy of the responses in the Defra library at Ergon House, London. This is so that the public can see them.  Also, members of the public may ask for a copy of responses under the freedom of information legislation.

8. If you do not want your response - including your name, contact details and any other personal information – to be publicly available, please say so clearly in writing when you send your response to the consultation.  Please note, if your computer automatically includes a confidentiality disclaimer, that won’t count as a confidentiality request.

9. Please explain why you need to keep details confidential.  We will take your reasons into account if someone asks for this information under the freedom of information legislation. But, because of the law, we cannot promise that we will always be able to keep those details confidential. 

10. We will summarise all responses and place this summary on our website at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/water-admin/index.htm. This summary will include a list of names of organisations that responded but not people’s personal names, addresses or other contact details.

11. To see consultation responses and summaries, please contact the library at:

Defra
Information Resource Centre
Lower Ground Floor
Ergon House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
Telephone: 020 7238 6575
Email: defra.library@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Please give the library 24 hours’ notice. There is a charge for photocopying and postage.

12. If you have any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address them to Marjorie Addo, Defra’s Consultation Co-ordinator, Area 7C Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR, or e-mail consultation.coordinator@defra.gsi.gov.uk

13. Thank you for your help in this matter. If you have any queries please contact us as above.

Yours faithfully,

David S Jones
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Page published: 17 December 2008