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Public Parks

It is always difficult to define the quality of decision making. When we agree with a decision we may think that the quality of decision making is good, and when we disagree we may think it is bad. In my opinion, however, the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham were not about the quality of decision making but about some of the information provided which led to the making of decisions, and about how the process was conducted. I hope that my suggestions will prove helpful; no doubt my hon. Friend will return to me if they do not. I want to make two points about the Government office. My hon. Friend said that he did not feel that he had been given reasons. The reasons that were given were standard—for instance, that it was not appropriate for the Secretary of State to interfere—rather than being based on the merits or otherwise of the case. However—and I apologise to my hon. Friend for this—it would have been helpful if the Government office had contacted him sooner, although I am not convinced that it was entirely the Government office’s fault. I believe that my hon. Friend contacted the Government office on 25 August and that it then sought further information from the council, which took a number of weeks to arrive. I am sure that the council did its best to convey the information to the Government office as quickly as possible, but it did not arrive until the first week of October. The Government office then contacted my hon. Friend within a week. I appreciate that he received the information after the decision had been made by the council, although it had not yet been implemented. It would have been helpful for my hon. Friend to know beforehand that, as the guidelines make clear, this is not a matter that would normally have been called in by the Secretary of State. I am sorry that the process took so long. I believe that some of the issues were beyond the Government office’s control, but I also believe that we should look into the possibility of giving Members advice on the likelihood of a decision being called in, and clarifying the position as a matter of urgency. I thank my hon. Friend for initiating the debate. He has raised some serious issues, a number of which fall outside the sphere of planning. I hope that the information I have given tonight has dealt with the policy context, and has helped my hon. Friend to find a way of ensuring that some of the matters he has raised are addressed. Question put and agreed to.