asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now issue a reassurance to water authorities that they have power to implement proposals from area health authorities for the addition of fluoride to water supplies within the concentrations which occur naturally.

The questions raised by water authorities about their powers to fluoridate are being examined at the moment, and I will be in touch with the National Water Council as soon as this examination is completed. As I said in answer to the hon. Member for Sudbury and Woodbridge (Mr. Stainton) on 10th January, I have no reason at this stage to depart from the view, which successive Governments have held, that there is an adequate statutory basis for fluoridation.