§ Mr. KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to announce his proposals for registers of land subject to contaminative uses under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangI have considered carefully the comments made on our proposals to introduce public registers of land which may be contaminated under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In consultation with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, I have concluded that introducing such registers would not achieve the environmental objectives for which they were designed. I do not therefore intend to proceed with their introduction.
Our aim is to improve the environment; to ensure that pollution is properly tackled; and that, where possible, contaminated land is brought back into good use. Registers were intended to facilitate this. However, in practice they have been perceived as introducing an unfair and unacceptable degree of blight and uncertainty into an already subdued property market. This additional loss of market confidence threatens in turn to undermine the 624W investment needed for land reclamation and urban regeneration and, in so doing, to increase the pressure for development on greenfield land.
I remain committed to our underlying environmental objectives, but intend to find a way forward that encourages a responsible partnership of private and public sector interests in identifying, assessing, and then dealing with contaminated land as appropriate. I therefore intend to look beyond registers, with their focus on identifying possible problems, at possible solutions. Such an approach will help reduce market anxieties and encourage the pragmatic co-operation through which I believe we can bring contaminated land in Scotland back into more widespread and beneficial use.
As a first step, I therefore intend to initiate a wide-ranging review of the underlying issues. Initially we will examine the current powers and responsibilities of public authorities; thereafter we will consider wider issues such as the options for identifying, assessing and treating contaminated land and the regulatory burden on the private sector and mechanisms for recovering the costs of such rehabilitation. In this, I will liaise closely with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and, in Scotland, with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands, Enterprise.
My aim will be to ensure effective arrangements, both to remove the threats posed by contaminated land and to take advantage of opportunities such land offers for regeneration; to ensure a better understanding by all concerned of the ways in which that can be achieved; and to ensure restored confidence in the viability of our approach to this important environmental issue. In the meantime, public authorities in Scotland will continue to exercise their existing duties and powers to safeguard public health and the environment; including the provision of information on land as appropriate.