Part 6: Miscellaneous Fluoridation of Water Supplies Section 175: Fluoridation of water supplies
This section amends certain provisions of the Water Industry Act 1991 to remove the power of local authorities to initiate new water fluoridation schemes or make variations or to terminate to existing schemes in England, and to confer that power instead on the Secretary of State.
	Subsection (2) amends section 87 of the Water Industry Act 1991. It inserts a new enabling power (section 87(6A)) allowing the Secretary of State to disapply, through regulations, the existing provisions in section 87(6) which require the Secretary of State to reimburse water undertakers for capital and operating costs for operating fluoridation schemes. As provided by the new section 87(12), the affirmative resolution procedure must be used to make such regulations. New section 87(6B) enables the Secretary of State to make regulations (subject to the negative procedure) requiring public sector bodies to make payments to the Secretary of State to meet water fluoridation costs. New section 87(7G) imposes on the Secretary of State a duty to consult before making regulations under either new section 87(6A) or section 87(6B).
	Subsection (2) also amends section 87(11) of the Water Industry Act 1991 so as to require the Secretary of State to consult water undertakers (water companies who provide water and sewerage services for general domestic use to UK homes) on whether any fluoridation scheme, or variation or termination to an existing scheme is operable and efficient, prior to undertaking any consultation required by section 89 of the Act.
	Subsections (3) and (4) make the necessary amendments to remove the local authorities’ power to initiate, vary or terminate schemes in England, with subsections (6) and (8) making amendments consequential upon those changes.
	Subsection (5) makes changes to section 89 of the Water Industry Act 1991 so that it applies to both England and Wales (rather than just Wales, as currently). The effect of these amendments is to require the Secretary of State to consult on any proposals for new fluoridation schemes or proposals to vary/terminate existing schemes. There is an existing regulation making power in section 89 which, as applied to England, will enable the Secretary of State to make regulations to provide further detail on the process and requirements of any consultation (including circumstances where consultation is not required).
	Subsections (7) and (9) deal with the regulation making powers under the amended provisions, subsection (7) providing that regulations under the new section 87(6A) will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, and subsection (9) providing that the first exercise of the power to make regulations under section 89 (as amended) will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.