Mr. DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales for what reasons the Countryside Council for Wales is not represented on the objective 5b programme monitoring committee for Wales; and what the EU guideline is on this subject. [30266]
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesDetailed provisions for the administration of the rural Wales objective 5b programme are for the implementing authority, in this case the Welsh Office. Although the Countryside Council for Wales is not directly represented on the monitoring committee, a member of the council—Mr. Tom Jones—sits on the committee, and the council is represented on the technical group, which has responsibility for considering individual applications for grant assistance. In addition, the council was closely involved with the preparation of the single programming document for rural Wales. These arrangements comply with the terms of the European legislation, which require that the competent environmental authorities are associated with the preparation and implementation of the single programming document.