Citation, commencement, extent and application

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Upper Ouse Water Management Board Order 2026 and comes into force on 1st April 2026.

(2) This Order extends to England and Wales, and applies to England only.

Confirmation of the Scheme

2.—(1) The Scheme submitted by the Environment Agency is confirmed with modifications.

(2) The Scheme, as modified by the Secretary of State, is set out in the Schedule to this Order.

Article 2(2)

Schedule Scheme submitted by the Environment Agency as modified by the Secretary of State

1. This Scheme comes into force on 1st April 2026.

2. In this Scheme—

“ the abolished boards ” means the Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage Board, the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board and the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage Board;

“ the Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage Board ” means the internal drainage board constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the Great Ouse River Board (Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage District) Order 1961 (“ the 1961 Order ”)( 5 );

“ the Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage District ” means the internal drainage district constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the 1961 Order;

“ the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board ” means the internal drainage board constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the Anglian Water Authority (Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage District) Order 1978 (“ the 1978 Order ”)( 6 ) as amended by the Scheme confirmed by the Reconstitution of the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board Order 1993 ( 7 );

“ the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage District ” means the internal drainage district constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the 1978 Order;

“ the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage Board ” means the internal drainage board constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the Amalgamation of the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage Districts Order 2001 ( 8 ) (“ the 2001 Order ”);

“ the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage District ” means the internal drainage district constituted by the Scheme confirmed by the 2001 Order;

“ the commencement date ” means the date on which this Scheme comes into force;

“ elected members ” means those members of the Upper Ouse Water Management Board who are appointed by the Secretary of State pursuant to this Scheme or elected in accordance with the provisions made by or under Schedule 1 to the Land Drainage Act 1991 ;

“ the new Board ” means the internal drainage board constituted by virtue of paragraph 3(3) of this Scheme;

“ property ” means, in relation to any of the abolished boards, any property which is vested in that abolished board immediately before the commencement date and includes books of account, other books, deeds, maps, papers and other documents, in whatever medium held, and computer and other electronic records;

“ rights and obligations ” means, in relation to any of the abolished boards, all rights, powers, duties, obligations and liabilities which are vested in or which fall to be discharged by that abolished board immediately before the commencement date.

3.—(1 ) The Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage Board, the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board and the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage Board are abolished.

(2) The Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage District, the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage District and the Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage District are amalgamated into, and are constituted as, one internal drainage district to be known as “ the Upper Ouse Internal Drainage District ”.

(3) A new internal drainage board to be known as “ the Upper Ouse Water Management Board ” is constituted for the Upper Ouse Internal Drainage District.

4.—(1) On the commencement date the new Board is constituted to comprise 14 elected members(9).

(2) The first elected members of the new Board are to be appointed by the Secretary of State and are to hold office until the expiry of one year from the first occurrence of 1st November following the day on which they are appointed.

5. From the commencement date, the Upper Ouse Internal Drainage District comprises one electoral division and accordingly paragraph (2) of the Scheme confirmed by the 1961 Order which divides the Alconbury and Ellington Internal Drainage District into three electoral districts ceases to have effect.

6. On the commencement date, all property and rights and obligations of the abolished boards are transferred to and vested in, or fall to be discharged by, the new Board.

7. All arrears of rates levied by the abolished boards before the commencement date in respect of any period ending before the commencement date may be recovered by the new Board, in the same manner as if they had been rates levied by the new Board.

8. This Scheme operates as conclusive evidence of any thing transferred under this Scheme without the necessity of further assignments, conveyance or deed of transfer.

9. The accounts of each of the abolished boards must be made up to the day before the commencement date by the new Board and audited as if this Scheme had not come into force.