§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he has received a report from the Maplin Development Authority in respect of the year ended 31st March 1976, in accordance with Section 24 of the Maplin Development Act 1973; and, if he has not done so, what steps he is taking to receive such a report;
211W(2) whether, in view of the fact that members of the Maplin Development Authority have a statutory responsibility to submit audited accounts of the authority for the year ended 31st March 1976, if he intends to take steps to indemnify the members of the authority against any failure to discharge such a responsibility;
(3) what statutory sanctions exist in the event of failure by members of the Maplin Development Authority to have prepared audited accounts in accordance with the Maplin Development Act 1973 setting up the statutory authority.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettSection 24 of the Maplin Development Act 1973 requires the Maplin Development Authority as soon as possible after the end of each accounting year to make a report to the Secretary of State on the exercise of its functions during that year; a copy of the audited accounts is to be attached to the report. There are no statutory sanctions for failure to prepare and submit accounts, and the question of indemnifying members of the authority against their failure to discharge these responsibilities does not arise. No accounts or report for the year ended 31st March 1976 have been prepared because the Maplin Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill provides that the last accounting year of the authority shall be the period between the end of March 1975 and the date on which the property, rights and liabilities of the Maplin Development Authority will vest in the Secretary of State.