---

Parish Councils (Planning)

There are occasions when what the hon. Gentleman says is true. I shall come on in my final remarks to circumstances in which it is possible for formal structures to operate at a very local level. I shall refer to a part of my constituency that is not in Cornwall. I know that local planning issues, in particular, can be tremendously highly charged. No one should go into planning, particularly at officer level, if they have a persecution complex because they will be attacked from both sides on all occasions. The same is true of those on planning committees. I feel very strongly about planning matters, and at every general election, when I am asked whether I believe that capital punishment should be reintroduced, I say, ““Absolutely not, except on two occasions: when people put plastic windows into old buildings and when people fail to pick up after their dog.”” Turning to circumstances in which it is appropriate to take decisions locally, I have a good example in my constituency, on the Isles of Scilly. The population is 2,000, considerably smaller than that of many parishes, but the council has more powers than a county, district and parish council rolled into one—it is also the water authority and the airport authority. There are many lessons to be learned from the Isles of Scilly, and if the Government are thinking seriously, as I hope they are, about devolving powers to parish level, they should look at that exemplar. On the Isles of Scilly, all planning decisions, as far as the Government and the new, nonsensical regional assembly allow, are taken at parish level, and as a result there are very few occasions on which local people end up gunning each other down in the high street. Planning matters are still highly charged, but the council uses professional planning advice, which often comes from the mainland. It is wise not to have all local authority officers living in the community in question. I hope that the Minister takes that on board when he reflects on what he has heard today and on whether he can influence his Department’s policy and look again at the possibility of devolving power to parish councils.