§ Lord Denningasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have under consideration the potential difficulties arising from the judgment of Mr. Justice Potts in the Horndean and Lasham cases and will issue the Report of their Rights of Way Committee on it and will include in any new legislation a provision that the inspector's report is not to be regarded as conclusive and will preclude him from himself confirming his own report.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Strathclyde)The judgment by Mr. Justice Potts, on the question of duly made objections to definitive map orders, is being considered by the Government in the context of the wider issues of vehicles using rights of way in the countryside and of the provisions in Part III of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. A working group of the Rights of Way Review Committee, which is entirely independent of the Government, has been considering the future of byways and its report to the committee is now available. Decisions on definitive map orders submitted to the Secretary of State are almost invariably transferred to inspectors under the provisions of paragraph 10 of Schedule 15 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there is no indication that this statutory procedure is unacceptable or unsatisfactory.