§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) why Her Majesty's Government, in a recent meeting of Council of Europe Ministers responsible for local government, held in Rome from 6 to 8 November, voted to give the European charter of local self-government merely the status of a recommendation and not that of a convention;
(2) if he will make a statement on the implications for local government in the United Kingdom if the European charter of local self-government is given the status of a convention by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe biennial Conference of European Ministers responsible for local government held under the auspices of the Council of Europe is not a deliberative body. Individual Ministers make their views known, but there is no voting procedure. This was the case last month at the Rome Conference which discussed, as one of the items on its agenda, the draft European Charter of Local Self-Government. I am writing to the hon. Member about the draft charter so as to explain the United Kingdom Government's agreement to its content and our preference for it to be adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe as a Recommendation rather than a Convention.