§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the report of the team commissioned to develop the Strategic Plan for the South East is now complete; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ShoreThe report of the South East Joint Planning Team has now been published under the title "Strategy for the South East: 1976 Review". Copies of the report have been sent to all hon. Members with constituencies in the South East Region. Further copies are available from the Vote Office. Copies have also been placed in the Library.
Comments on the report are being invited from the Standing Conference on London and South East Regional Planning and the South East Economic 162W Planning Council, who commissioned the study in association with my Department. Comments are also invited, by 14th January 1977, from local authorities, regional organisations and the public.
The views and recommendations of the report are those of the planning team; it will be appraised by the Departments concerned and a Government response will be made to it. Thereafter the report and the response, taken together, will constitute the approved regional strategy for the South East Region.