Eighth Report
Instruments Reported
The Committee has considered the following instruments,
and has determined that the special attention of the House should
be drawn to them on the grounds specified.
A. SI 2004/1231 Town and Country Planning
(London Borough of Camden) Special Development Order 2004
1. This Order is laid under sections 59 and 333(7)
of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It modifies certain
requirements of the Town and Country Planning (General Development
Procedure) Order 1995[1]
("the 1995 Order") in relation to land in the London
Borough of Camden.
2. Article 8 of the 1995 Order sets out requirements
for publicity for planning applications, including a requirement
that certain categories of application should be publicised by
local advertisement. In the 1995 Order, local advertisement is
defined as meaning publication of a notice in a local newspaper
and also publication of a notice on a website, if such a website
is maintained by the local planning authority for the purpose
of advertising planning applications.
3. In relation to planning applications for development
in Camden, the new Order provides that the requirement on the
local planning authority (the Council of the London Borough of
Camden) to provide publicity through a notice in a local newspaper
shall apply only to applications submitted in accordance with
Environmental Impact Assessment procedures (EIA applications)
accompanied by an environmental statement. Other planning applications,
notably those which do not accord with the development plan or
those which would affect a public right of way, shall be publicised
by a notice on a website (and not also in a local newspaper).
(The requirement in the 1995 Order that such applications should
also be publicised by display of a notice on site continues to
apply.)
4. An Explanatory Memorandum to the Order by
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) states that the
use of the website proposed in the Order will improve present
publicity arrangements and should lead to an increased public
awareness of planning applications within Camden;[2]
and that the Order will be reviewed after 3 years to assess the
overall effect of the new arrangements. ODPM has also commented
that publicity requirements for other types of applications, such
as listed building and conservation area consents, are being reviewed
in the context of advances in electronic communication.
5. We note that, on 24 March 2003, the House
debated the Town and Country Planning (Electronic Communications)
(England) Order 2003,[3]
the purpose of which was to modify legislation relating to planning
in order to facilitate the use of electronic communication.[4]
In that debate, Lord Evans of Temple Guiting made the following
statement:
"As I have mentioned, the order facilitates
the electronic handling of parts of the planning system and so
does no more than create an opportunity for those who wish to
use an electronic rather than a paper-based planning system. The
existing paper-based system will continue to operate for as long
as those engaging in the planning system wish to use it."
6. The Committee considers that the Order, in
proposing that certain applications need no longer be advertised
in a local newspaper, represents a departure from a paper-based
system in one important aspect of the planning system, and is
at odds with the statement quoted above. We understand that the
local planning authority itself favours this departure, but note
that the authority is only one of the parties engaged in the planning
system. We consider that not all those likely to be affected by
the planning applications covered by the Order will find it as
easy to consult a website as to read a local newspaper, and that
there is a risk that the policy objective of the Order to increase
public awareness of planning applications in Camden may not be
met, and that such awareness may be reduced.
7. The Committee further notes that the possibility
of extending electronic communication to other types of application
is being considered within Government, and is concerned that any
such extension might risk a reduction in public awareness in these
areas too.
The Order is drawn to the special attention of
the House on the grounds that it gives rise to issues of public
policy likely to be of interest to the House, and that it imperfectly
achieves its policy objectives.
B. Draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority (Disclosure of Donor Information) Regulations 2004
8. These Regulations are made under sections
31(4)(a) and 45(1) to (3) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Act 1990, and, if approved, they would come into effect on 1 July
2004. They seek to bring the position of donor-conceived people
more closely into line with that of adopted people in terms of
the information they can be given about their genetic origins.
They increase the amount of information that can be provided to
children conceived as a result of donor-assisted treatment services,
on their reaching the age of 18. However, under Regulation 2(4)
the information will only be supplied at the donor-conceived person's
request and within the limits of his or her request: for example,
a request may be limited to the donor's medical history.
9. Regulation 2(2) seeks to standardise the information
that clinics will keep in future, which includes information on
the donor's physical appearance, ethnicity, occupation and family
circumstances. From 1 July 2004, these Regulations authorise the
release of any non-identifying information which the Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) may already hold
on its register within the categories set out in Regulation 2(2).
This does not, however, apply to any information that may identify
the donor: those who have donated genetic material anonymously
will be able to remain anonymous.
10. Regulation 2(3) sets out the identifying
information which the HFEA will be required to collect from
donors from 1 April 2005. This provision therefore removes anonymity
for future donors. The identifying information can be given to
a donor-conceived adult, if requested, once they reach 18. In
addition, the Regulations allow for people who donate, or have
donated, before 1 April 2005 to opt to become identifiable.
11. The proposals were subjected to a public
consultation by the Department of Health in 2002: 55% of respondents
to the public consultation were in favour of removing anonymity,
30% were against and 15% were undecided. A subsequent consultation
directly with clinics revealed 50% of donors responding to the
consultation said that they would continue to donate even if anonymity
were removed.
12. A full explanation of the Regulations is
given in the Explanatory Memorandum tabled with them and in the
Regulatory Impact Assessment which has been placed in the Library.
These draft Regulations are drawn to the special
attention of the House on the grounds that they give rise to issues
of public policy likely to be of interest to the House.
1 SI 1995/419. Back
2
Paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Memorandum states: "Publicising
planning applications on a website accords with e-government strategy
and will help to achieve delivery of the policy objectives set
out in Camden's Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA). It is considered
that using this method will improve present publicity requirements
and it should also lead to an increased public awareness of planning
applications within Camden." Back
3
SI 2003/956. Back
4
HL Hansard, 24 March 2003, cols 541-543. Back
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