§ Mr. Edgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the scope of his review of the gipsy problem and the date when he expects the findings of the review to be publicly available.
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§ Mr. OakesThe review, which is a departmental one, covers all aspects of the operation of Part II of the Caravan Sites Act 1968, and the steps the Government might take to accelerate the provision of gipsy caravan sites. When it is appropriate to do so, we shall announce our decisions as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Edgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many gipsy sites need to be provided by the West Midlands Metropolitan County in order to obtain designation under the Caravans Sites Act 1968 for either part or the whole of the county's area.
§ Mr. OakesThe county can be designated only when adequate accommodation has been provided for gipsies residing in or resorting to the area as a whole. It is for the county council in the first instance to assess how many sites are needed for that purpose.