§ Mr. Fauldsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish the letter sent at his request by the Association of Metropolitan Authorities in which local authorities were warned that the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 did not mean an increase in the resources available to rescue archaeology and that his Department felt that designation of such areas should be a gradual and highly selective process.
§ Mr. MonroI am sending to the hon. Member a copy of the Department's letter of 9 May 1979 to each of the local authority associations which requested them to write to their own members. It must be for the Association of Metropolitan Authorities to decide whether to publish the letter which it sent to its members.