§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will issue guidance to regional development agencies on their sustainable development role and responsibilities in respect to rural areas; [58729]
(2) if regional development agencies will be given guidance on their sustainable development obligations and responsibilities for rural areas before they prepare their regional strategies. [58659]
§ Mr. MealeYes. We published draft guidance to RDAs on their regional strategies on 20 October, and have invited comments by the end of November. Work is in progress on supplementary guidance to RDAs on how they should contribute to sustainable development and on rural policy, on which we will consult interested parties in due course. The aim is to finalise all these documents early in the New Year. RDAs will be fully operational from April 1999, and we envisage that they will produce their regional strategies by October 1999.