§ Mr. Stottasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet received the report of the working group to review public policies on pop festivals; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Denis HowellThe working group has submitted its first report, Free Festivals, which is being published today.
I am grateful to my noble Friend, Lord Melchett and the members of the working group for giving their time to this work and for providing a balanced report on this difficult subject. I am sure that the group's conclusion will be of interest to many people, particularly those concerned with pop festivals.
I have already made it clear that the Government are not prepared to incur 745W any expenditure in providing a site for the Peoples' Free Festival this year, or to take any action that would lead to any local authority incurring additional expenditure.