HC Deb 04 April 1989 vol 150 c143W
Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what advice and information, in the form of a code of guidance, is currently available to owners and occupiers of sites of special scientific interest under the provision of section 33 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; what price is charged for such a code; whether the Nature Conservancy Council issues the code to all owners and occupiers of sites of special scientific interest notified after the passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1985; and if he will make a statement;

(2) pursuant to his reply of 10 February, to the hon. Member for Don Valley, Official Report, column 816, on how many occasions a revised code of guidance on sites of special scientific interest has been laid before Parliament since the passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1985; what was the reason for withdrawal of the previous code in each case; and if he will make a statement;

(3) pursuant to his answer of 10 February to the hon. Member for Don Valley, Official Report, column 816, how many items in the current code of guidance on sites of special scientific interest have been superseded by the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1985; and whether contravention of the current code constitutes a breach of the amended codes.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Section 33 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides for the preparation and issue, subject to parliamentary approval, of a code of guidance for sites of special scientific interest to interested parties and the general public. The original version of the code was published in 1982 and the Nature Conservancy Council supplied copies free of charge to all owners and occupiers notified of SSSIs under the Act.

Amendments to the notification procedures were introduced by the Wildlife and Countryside (Amendment) Act 1985 and the Wildlife and Countryside (Service of Notices) Act 1985. The code of guidance has not been reprinted. A revised version incorporating appropriate amendments is in preparation and will be submitted for approval by Parliament later this year. In the meantime NCC has provided advice to owners and occupiers on initial notifications of an SSSI in the form of its own publication "Sites of Special Scientific Interest".

The code of guidance is advisory; its provisions carry no legal force.