§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to ensure that environmental impact assessments take social and economic costs and benefits of projects into account.
§ Mr. MacleanWhere a project which is the subject of a planning application requires environmental assessment, the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 provide that the environmental statement submitted by the applicant shall include a description of the likely significant effects on the environment. These include the impact on human beings as well as on flora, fauna, water, air and the landscape, and beneficial effects as well as adverse effects.
In deciding whether to grant consent the decision-taking authority must have regard to the environmental information—that is, the applicant's environmental statement and any comments on it from the statutory consultees and the general public-and also to any other material considerations.
Similar provisions apply where environmental assessment is required for projects which are subject to other approval procedures, for example, under the Highways and Electricity Acts.