HC Deb 08 July 1996 vol 281 cc49-50W
Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what data is collated by his Department on the prevalence of car boot sales. [35679]

Sir Paul Beresford

No statistics are kept by the Department on the number of car boot sales.

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for controlling commercial traders at car boot sales. [35680]

Sir Paul Beresford

The planning system controls the development, including use, of land. Part 4 of schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Development) Order 1995 already restricts the temporary use of land for a car boot sale to 14 days a year. It is not the function of the planning system to preserve existing commercial interests or to inhibit competition between retailers or between methods of retailing, and the planning legislation therefore applies to commercial and non-commercial traders alike. The Government have no plans to introduce a distinction in this matter.