Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): Before we begin our clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill, I ask for Committee agreement that the session is recorded by Hansard.

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): I will take the Committee through some of the tabled papers. We have the Clerk's memo on the Bill and formal clause-by-clause scrutiny. I will put the Question on each clause. I will walk everybody through it and seek the Committee's agreement as we go through each clause.

I remind members that, at yesterday's informal clause-by-clause scrutiny session, we had some discussion regarding the Minister's letter that we received on 19 June. In that correspondence, the Minister committed that the Department will bring forward a number of potential amendments to the Bill in relation to clauses 1, 2, 3, 6 and 15. The amendments are intended to address requests that were previously made by the Committee.

I note two things about that. First, the Committee has done a good job on the Bill. We have subjected it to a level of scrutiny that I think we can stand over. Secondly, it would be incongruous for me not to welcome, at least, the Minister's agreement with our concerns. It came very late in the day, but notwithstanding that, we have it now, and the Minister has agreed to a significant amount of what the Committee asked for.

The Committee informally agreed that, notwithstanding the fact that it has not yet had sight of the draft amendments from the Department, the Minister's response has provided a level of assurance regarding clauses 1 and 6, subject to the proposed amendments. Those include amendments to clause 1 to provide for "social media" as a means of advertising a temporary ban under article 116B(2) and article 116B(5) of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, and an amendment to clause 6(6) to make the relevant provisions subject to the draft affirmative Assembly procedure.

Members have welcomed the Minister's commitment to bring forward those amendments and the amendments to clauses 2, 3 and 15 in line with the Committee's requests, which relate specifically to the sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) approval body, offences provisions and commencement arrangements.

It is, however, our view that we do not have sufficient detail on the departmental amendments to reach a definitive position on those clauses yet. Essentially, the Committee has informally agreed to reserve its position on clauses 2, 3 and 15, and it requests that the Minister provide the draft amendments for all five clauses by 2 September 2026. We already have draft Committee amendments in place, should the departmental amendments to the clauses that I just mentioned not cover the Committee's concerns. If that is the case, and if the Committee agrees, we will table those amendments to the Bill at Further Consideration Stage.

I will now move on to what we call formal clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill. I will go through the clauses in turn and put the Question on each.

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): I will put the Question on agreeing clause 1, subject to the proposed departmental amendment to include social media in the means of advertising a temporary use ban in article 116B(2) and article 116B(5).

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): Is the Committee agreed not to take a position on clause 2 until the Department has submitted draft amendments for Committee consideration?

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): Is the Committee agreed not to take a position on clause 3 until the Department has submitted draft amendments for Committee consideration?

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): I will put the Question on clause 6, subject to the proposed departmental amendment that regulations made under clause 6(6) be made by the draft affirmative Assembly procedure.

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): Is the Committee agreed not to take a position on clause 15 until the Department has submitted draft amendments for Committee consideration?

The Chairperson (Mr Martin): That ends the Committee Stage. We still have to sign off on the report. Just to make members aware, this does not finish our consideration of the SuDS Bill. When we get back in September, we will be waiting to see what amendments the Office of the Legislative Counsel (OLC) provides on the issues that we have raised with the Department and the clauses that we have highlighted. We will come back to it in September. By that stage, I imagine that the OLC will have drafted the amendments, so we will have sight of them. At that point, we can consider whether we are content to let the departmental amendments go forward or, if not, whether, at Further Consideration Stage, we will table the Committee amendments that the Bill Clerk has drafted for us.