Scott Report (Government's Views) (Hansard, 30 November 1943)

§ Mr. W. S. Morrison

Yes, Sir. The views of His Majesty's Government are set out in the following statement:

"The Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas, of which Lord Justice Scott was Chairman, was appointed by the Minister of Works and Buildings, in consultation with the Minister of Agriculture, in October, 1941, with the following terms of reference: 'To consider the conditions which should govern building and other constructional development in country areas consistently with the maintenance of agriculture, and in particular the factors affecting the location of industry, having regard to economic operation, part-time and seasonal employment, the well-being of rural communities and the preservation of rural amenities.'

These terms of reference were for England and Wales only and did not include Scotland.

2. The Report was issued as Command Paper No. 6378 in August, 1942. There was also a Minority Report by one member of the Committee.

3. The Report extends over a very wide range of national policy. The Committee themselves were only concerned with conditions in rural areas, but many of the questions on which they submitted recommendations must be considered from the wider standpoint of the nation as a whole. While, therefore, it is now possible to indicate Government decisions, or the general trend of Government policy, in regard to many of the recommendations, the action to be taken on others will necessarily depend on the determination of major issues of national importance still under examination by the Government Departments concerned.

4. Many of the 108 recommendations in the Report are not such as to require legislation. They rather constitute a welcome body of principles for the guidance of those concerned in the preparation of a planning framework and with the provision of housing and services in rural areas.

5. Broadly speaking, the Report contemplates a wider interpretation and a more general application of town and country planning than hitherto. The constitution of a Central Planning Authority in the form of a Ministry of 223W Town and Country Planning, while not following the precise proposals of the Committee, has provided central machinery for planning and the recommendations of the Committee as regards planning in country areas have been generally endorsed in the declarations of policy that have been made on behalf of the new Ministry. The Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) Act of last Session gives effect to the recommendations for greater powers of central direction and control. Under this Act local planning becomes compulsory over the whole country, and action is being taken to encourage co-operation between existing planning authorities and the participation of county councils in this field. These steps will, incidentally, facilitate the employment of suitably qualified personnel. Ten Regional Planning Officers have been appointed by the Minister of Town and Country Planning, and these officers are in close touch with the local Planning Authorities in their respective areas.

6. In the field of survey and research as a preparatory step to national planning, the Ministry of Town and Country Planning is engaged on the assembly of information on all forms of land resources and the conditions affecting their use; and this information is being brought together in a co-ordinated series of planning maps. The Ministry is carrying out detailed surveys around expanding urban areas in conjunction with the other Ministries concerned. Special attention is also being directed by the Government to the appropriate uses of land and buildings that will no longer be needed by the Service Departments after the war.

7. Arrangements have been made, and are working smoothly, for close inter-departmental co-operation in all matters affecting land use. These arrangements are to ensure, among other things, as the Committee proposed—

(a) that full weight is given in future planning to agricultural considerations—in which connection it may be recalled that the Government have already stated that they 'will seek to avoid the diversion of productive agricultural land to other purposes if there is unproductive or less productive land that could be reasonably used for those purposes" (OFFICIAL REPORT, House 224 of Commons, the 11th February, 1942, Col. 1533); and
(b) that the essential interdependence of the future pattern of road and rail communications on the one hand, and of the national and local problems of town and country planning on the other, is kept in mind.

8. The Committee recommend that Statutory Undertakers should be subject to planning control. Development carried out by these undertakers under general statutory powers is already subject to planning control, but in the application of this control regard has to be paid to the fact that in the exercise of their powers Statutory Undertakers are often under obligations prescribed by Act of Parliament which may make it difficult in practice to impose on them restrictions that might otherwise be desirable on planning grounds. Provisions regarding development carried out by Statutory Undertakers under Special Acts will be included in a General Interim Development Order which will shortly be made under the Planning Acts. As regards future Bills the Minister of Town and Country Planning will make reports to the Committees of both Houses on the planning aspects of such Private Bills.

9. Within the general operation of planning machinery the Committee refer to four main aspects of Government policy as affecting the countryside. Emphasis is laid first on the successful cultivation of the soil as the foundation of all rural economy. The maintenance of a healthy and well-balanced agriculture and the pursuit of a vigorous forestry policy are already accepted elements in the Government's post-war policy.

10. Secondly, the Committee submit a series of recommendations regarding the location and conduct of industry other than agriculture in rural areas. Several of these are in accordance with current planning practice, but the Government recognise that further reinforcement is necessary. Other recommendations relate to the rural aspect of the larger national issues raised by the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Industrial Population, and the Expert Committee on Compensation and Betterment, and must be considered in the light of future decisions on those Reports. The wide recommendations of 225W the Report as to extractive industries cover a variety of minerals, distinguishing certain major groups. As these minerals form the raw material for important industries, it is essential, as the Report says, that full consideration be given in each case to the economic issues involved. Attention is being concentrated for the present on the relatively shallow surface workings covering a wide extent of ground, such as open-cast coal, ironstone and gravel, which give rise to the most serious problems. Open-cast coal is being worked almost entirely under Government control, and in most cases excavation is immediately followed by restoration. Informed conclusions as to the best methods of planning control for other surface minerals can only be reached as the result of detailed investigations of a highly technical nature, such as have already been instituted for ironstone and gravel by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in conjunction with the other Departments concerned.

11. Thirdly, the Committee submit a series of recommendations designed to promote the general well-being of rural communities. The Government accept the broad object of these recommendations. Many of them have been, or are being, taken into consideration in the preparation of post-war plans for housing, education, etc. Other recommendations, such as the supply of electricity throughout the country at town prices, the extension of gas supply to rural areas and the general reorganisation of water supply, raise issues of great importance and complexity involving much wider considerations than those before the Committee. Each of these questions must be decided on a careful balance of national advantage, and the Departments concerned are proceeding with their examination.

12. The twin objects of the fourth group of recommendations of the Committee, namely, those relating to the preservation of rural amenities and the provision of improved access to the countryside, are accepted by the Government: the various detailed proposals are under close review by the several Departments concerned with a view to appropriate action. Surveys are being made of areas suitable for national parks, nature reserves and recreational purposes, and a detailed coastal survey is being prepared as a 226W basis for improved measures of access and control. There can be no doubt that the post-war period will see a greatly increased demand for holiday facilities, especially in the country; and the means of providing such facilities, including, in suitable places, the provision of holiday camps, are being worked out by the Departments concerned. In general, the Government accept the view that the natural beauty of our countryside is a matter of national importance and, as such, must be of direct concern to national planning."