§ Mr. BidwellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received from relatives of those interred in the three cemeteries sold by Westminster council; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeNine letters from the Westminster Association of Relatives concerning the recent report of the council's internal inquiry into the sales: these call for a full public inquiry, for the Secretary of State to order an extraordinary audit of the council's accounts and for him to implement a compulsory purchase order for the cemeteries. It has been made clear on a number of occasions that the Secretary of State has no power to hold a statutory inquiry into the sale. There would be no purpose served by his requiring the Audit Commission to direct an extraordinary audit as this matter is already under investigation, in the way that Parliament intended, by the independent district auditor. Whether to use compulsory purchase powers is a matter for the council in the first instance. If this route is followed the Secretary of State's function is to consider whether or not to confirm any such order.