§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, for each of the last three White Papers issued by his Department, for which legislation has been started, he will state the time elapsed between their publication and the First Readings of any Bills connected with them; and if he will do the same for the last three White Papers issued by his Department prior to May 1979.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe last three White Papers published by my Department, in which legislation was784W proposed and has been subsequently started or completed, were "Privatisation of the Water Authorities in England and Wales", "Housing: The Government's Proposals" and "The Conduct of Local Authority Business—The Government Response to the Report of the Widdicombe Committee of Inquiry". These were published in February 1986, September 1987 and July 1988 respectively; and the First Readings of the Water Bill and Local Government and Housing Bill which resulted from them took place in the record of the last Government in this matter, but the information requested should be available in the Library of the House and the Official Report.