Water Act 1989

138 Composition of regional flood defence committees

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and to any order under Schedule 16 to this Act amalgamating the areas of any two or more regional flood defence committees, on and after the transfer date—

(a) the total number of members of the regional flood defence committee for any area shall be the number which, whether under section 2 of the 1976 Act or by virtue of any determination or order made under that section, was for the purposes of that section the total number of members of the regional land drainage committee for that area immediately before that date; and

(b) the number of members to be appointed to a regional flood defence committee for any area by or on behalf of each of the constituent councils or, as the case may be, jointly by or on behalf of more than one of them shall be the number which, whether under section 3 of that Act or by virtue of an order made under that section, was the number to be appointed to the regional land drainage committee for that area by that council or those councils immediately before that date.

(2) The Authority may, in accordance with the following provisions of this section, from time to time make a determination varying the total number of members of a regional flood defence committee; but that number shall be not less than eleven and, except where an order under subsection (4) below otherwise provides, not more than seventeen.

(3) The Authority shall submit any determination under subsection (2) above to the appropriate Minister; and any determination by the Authority under subsection (2) above that a regional flood defence committee should consist of more than seventeen members shall be provisional and shall take effect only if the appropriate Minister makes an order under subsection (4) below.

(4) If the Authority submits a provisional determination to the appropriate Minister with respect to any regional flood defence committee and he considers that the committee should consist of more than seventeen members, he may by order made by statutory instrument—

(a) confirm it; or

(b) substitute for the number of members determined by the Authority some other number not less than seventeen.

(5) Subject to the following provisions of this section, whenever—

(a) the total number of members of a regional flood defence committee is varied under this section; or

(b) the appropriate Minister considers it necessary to make an order under this subsection in consequence of—

(i) the effect in relation to the whole or any part of the area of any regional flood defence committee of any regulations under section 69(7) of the [1988 c. 41.] Local Government Finance Act 1988 (definition of relevant population); or

(ii) the alteration of the boundaries of the area of a regional flood defence committee,

the appropriate Minister shall by order made by statutory instrument specify, in relation to times after the coming into force of the variation, regulations or alteration, the number of members to be appointed to the committee by each of the constituent councils.

(6) An order under subsection (5) above shall be so framed that the total number of members appointed under section 137(3)(a) and (b) above is one less than the number of those appointed by or on behalf of constituent councils.

(7) For the purpose of determining for the purposes of subsection (5) above the number of persons to be appointed to a regional flood defence committee by or on behalf of each constituent council, the appropriate Minister—

(a) shall have regard to the relevant population of any relevant area of that council; and

(b) where, having regard to the proportion which that population bears to the aggregate of the relevant populations of the relevant areas of all the constituent councils—

(i) he considers it to be inappropriate that that council should appoint a member of the committee; or

(ii) he considers that one or more members should be appointed jointly by that council and one or more other constituent councils,

may include provision to that effect in the order.

(8) Where—

(a) the appointment of one or more members of a regional flood defence committee is, by virtue of subsection (1) above or an order under subsection (5) above, to be made jointly by more than one constituent council; and

(b) the councils by whom that appointment is to be made are unable to agree on an appointment,

the member or members in question shall be appointed by the appropriate Minister on behalf of those councils; and subsection (7) of section 137 above shall apply in relation to an appointment under this subsection as it applies in relation to an appointment under subsection (3)(a) of that section.

(9) In this section—

• “member”, in relation to a regional flood defence committee, includes the chairman of the committee;

• “relevant area”, in relation to a council which is a constituent council in relation to any regional flood defence committee, means so much of the council’s area as is included in the area of the committee;

• “relevant population” has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of section 69 of the [1988 c. 41.] Local Government Finance Act 1988 (precepted authorities).