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Forestry
8. Mr. Bill Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received regarding forestry in England. [25678]
Mr. Clappison: During the consultation on the rural White Paper, we received 54 written representations on forestry. We continue to receive representations on many aspects of forestry.
Mr. Michie: Will the Minister make representations to the Scottish Office, which has overall responsibility for our forests, to stop the back-door privatisation of Forestry Commission land by Forest Enterprise as that would restrict public access and reduce the environmental quality of our woodlands, which are a precious national asset?
Mr. Clappison: The hon. Gentleman should be aware that high-access woodlands are not included in the disposal programmes and that, in other cases, local authorities have opportunities to reach agreements on access. In view of his comments and concern, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that the Government are improving access to woodlands by the creation of the national forest and the network of 12 community forests serving large parts of Britain, including the hon. Gentleman's constituency in South Yorkshire. I hope that his constituents will enjoy that access in due course.
Mr. Wilkinson: My hon. Friend will recognise that the few remaining areas of woodland and forest within Greater London and within the M25 are particularly important national assets. Will he ensure that those areas, many of which are green-belt areas and sites of special scientific interest, remain sacrosanct in respect of planning and development?
Mr. Clappison: I have every sympathy with my hon. Friend as my constituency is within the M25 and includes some of that woodland. He will be aware of the community forest that serves my constituency. It is Government policy to preserve open spaces and forests within the metropolitan green belt.
District Auditor Service
9. Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received from local authorities regarding the role of the district auditor service. [25679]
Mr. Sheerman: The Minister will be aware that the district auditor service is highly regarded by many local authorities, including Labour-controlled Kirklees. If he wants to talk or shout about squalid deals and shenanigans, he should recognise that many people in local government believe that the Secretary of State brought undue pressure on the district auditor to delay the report on Westminster city council until after Thursday's local election. If on May 7 that report--the Tories, who are shouting, do not like this--names the individuals responsible for wasting £30 million of taxpayers' money
on gerrymandering, will the Minister or the Secretary of State ensure that action is taken to drive those people out of public life for good?
Mr. Curry: That accusation is categorically untrue. It is a scandalous attack on the integrity of the auditor dealing with Westminster's affairs.
Mr. Barry Field: Will my hon. Friend tell that lot opposite that we do not like having district auditors' reports carried out at the behest of council tax payers and Liberal Democrat councillors refusing to publish the results? Does he agree that everyone considering voting Liberal Democrat on Thursday should know that that party should carry a financial health warning?
Mr. Curry: We can all agree that any sensible system of local government must have a system of independent audit and that sensible politicians will recognise that the auditors must be allowed to get on with their job without political intervention.
Mr. Rendel: Given the length of time that the auditor has had to report on Westminster city council, and acknowledging the great difficulties that have been created by the procrastination of former Conservative councillors--
Mr. Field: When will the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) answer my question about the district auditor's report?
Madam Speaker: Order. The hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Field) has put his question. Let us hear someone else now.
Mr. Rendel: Given the delay in the publication of the report and its importance in respect of various people's continuance in public office, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that major reports are produced rather more quickly in future?
Mr. Curry: The Government have no intention of intervening in the process of audit for any purpose. If local government is to be based on financial integrity, the audit service must be free of political interference and in the hands of an independent authority. I do not intend to intervene in that process. The Labour party plans to transform the Audit Commission into a super surrogate for local government. Nothing would be more dangerous. The matter is best left in the hands of the Audit Commission, which does its job very well.
River Thames (London)
10. Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to enhance the use and amenities of the River Thames in London.[25680]
Mr. Gummer: My strategic planning guidance for the Thames will have as its three major goals quality building along the Thames, more freight and leisure traffic on the river, and the conservation of its natural environment.
Sir Sydney Chapman: Notwithstanding the fact that there are no elections in London this Thursday, is my right
hon. Friend aware that the initiatives and the actions he has taken to promote greater use of, and to enhance the amenities of, the Thames have been far greater than were ever achieved under the old and little-lamented Greater London council? Does he further agree that the siting of the major millennium project at Greenwich will give a glorious opportunity for the Thames, especially in central and east London?
Mr. Gummer: My hon. Friend will accept that the planning of the Thames needs to have a strategy that reaches way beyond the old GLC area, right down to the coast. That is another example of the fact that one can deal with London's strategic problems only on a variable basis. Boroughs on both sides of the Thames are now working together inside and outside the old Greater London area in a way that they would never have done when they were borne down upon by the expensive, inefficient and failed Greater London council.
Miss Hoey: Does the Secretary of State agree that the River Thames is a wonderful asset for London and that there are many new developments, especially on the south bank in my constituency? Will he especially welcome the new millennium wheel? It will be a most wonderful monument to the millennium. Does he further agree that, if we are serious about developing the use of the River Thames, we have to make it much easier for piers to be provided along the river, and planning guidance should be changed to help to achieve that? If new developments had to provide a pier, that would do a great deal to ensure that the river could be used.
Mr. Gummer: I think that the hon. Lady will be pleased with the strategic guidance, because that is the sort of subject on which we have been working together in the all-party group that has directed the preparation of that guidance. I am also pleased to agree with her about the enormous advantages of the proposals that have been made for sites all along the Thames. It would be wrong of me to make an especial comment about the great Ferris wheel, but I am sure that the hon. Lady will agree that we need to show that we have the confidence in these years to make big changes and to stand up for this generation to show that we have something to offer to the next.
New Housing
11. Mr. Simon Coombs: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new houses have been constructed in the past two years; and if he will make a statement. [25683]
Mr. Curry: There were 370,100 completions in Great Britain in 1994 and 1995.
Mr. Coombs: Is my hon. Friend aware that the level of house building in Swindon rose from 664 houses in 1994-95 to 1,163 houses in 1995-96? Is not that near doubling in the number of houses under construction in those two years clear evidence of a very strong recovery of the economy?
Mr. Curry: My hon. Friend is right. The basis for that recovery is the containment of public expenditure and ensuring that interest rates remain low. Both those would
be threatened by a policy of spend and high taxation such as the Labour party refuses to deny. The Labour party will not give us any details on what it will spend and what it will tax.
Mr. Sutcliffe: Despite those figures, is it not the case that real housing need--that of the homeless--is not being met? Is it not the Government's policy to prevent local authorities from building the necessary houses for social rent and affordable housing? When will the Government do something about providing homes for the homeless?
Mr. Curry: As a matter of interest, I spent part of this morning at a conference run by the English Churches housing association, dealing with the problems of street homelessness in London. At that conference, there was a very warm welcome for the imaginative and forward-looking programmes to deal with people in the worst possible circumstances--the street homeless. The hon. Gentleman will know that we plan to extend those programmes to cities outside London, where a clear need can be determined and where the voluntary sector and the public and statutory authorities can work together. That is a remarkable attack on the problems of the people in the worst possible circumstances in the United Kingdom, and it works.
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