§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list those non-departmental public bodies responsible to his Department which hold their(a) board and (b) working meetings in public; if he will set out the reasons for the remaining meetings being held in private; and if he will arrange to place in the Library the minutes of, and papers presented at, open board meetings of NDPBs responsible to his Department. [105077]
§ Ms Beverley HughesOf the executive NDPBs sponsored by DETR, only the eight Regional Development Agencies are statutorily required to hold an annual board meeting in public, following the publication of their annual reports. However, the following bodies do hold at least one annual open board meeting:
- Docklands Light Railway;
- Countryside Agency;
- English Nature;
- English Partnerships;
- Environment Agency;
- Health & Safety Commission and Executive;
- Housing Action Trusts (all five bodies);
- Local Government Commission for England;
- London Regional Passengers Committee; and
- National Forest Company.
Other NDPBs, including the Housing Corporation and the Traffic Director for London, hold meetings for stakeholders as and when necessary, and the Environment Agency's regional advisory committees hold their meetings in public. NDPB meetings are held in private for good reason: commercial confidentiality; personal confidentiality; legal matters; and operational reasons.
Many of DETR's executive NDPBs publish the minutes of board meetings and, in some cases, papers on the internet or make them available in paper form or do both. For this reason, and because of the volume of paper involved, I do not propose to ask bodies to place minutes of, and papers for, open board meetings in the Library.