§ Lord Hogg of Cumbernauldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the criteria on which the Secretary of State for Scotland relies when calling in planning applications for opencast mining.
§ Lord SewelThe long established general principle under which the planning system operates in Scotland is that decisions should be taken at the most local administrative level unless there are strong reasons for taking them at a higher level, for example where issues of national rather than local importance are raised. Where an application for planning permission is brought to the Secretary of State's attention he will consider it on an individual basis with a view to deciding whether or not it raises issues which would warrant him calling in the application for his own determination.