§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will meet Stoke on Trent city council to discuss its response to the Urban Regeneration Agency consultation paper.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe consultation exercise on our proposals on the Urban Regeneration Agency closed on 21 September. The Department took note of Stoke-on-Trent's response, along with the many others we received, in preparing the details of the agency in the Housing and Urban Development Bill which was introduced to the House on 22 October. It is too late to take receipt of further formal comments but I would be happy to discuss our plans for the agency when I visit Stoke-on-Trent on 13 November.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it is policy that any future arrangements for the proposed Urban Regeneration Agency will not discriminate against those authorities currently in receipt of derelict land grant but currently without assisted area and other status.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Housing and Urban Development Bill makes provision for a new unified grant regime for the Urban Regeneration Agency which will replace derelict land grant and the other grants to be transferred to it. The Government will take account of the current priorities for these grants, including derelict land grant, when constructing the new unified regime.