§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received from Tandridge district council concerning the Department's Consultation Paper on Changes to the Designation of Rural Areas for purposes of the Village Shop Rate Relief Scheme; and what response his Department has made. [27838]
§ Dr. WhiteheadTandridge district council responded to the consultation paper on 29 November 2001 expressing concern that three rural settlements in their area would lose their designated status if what was proposed was implemented. A significant number of other local authorities expressed similar concerns about settlements in their areas.
We had proposed that the current designations based on listed parishes be replaced by one based on maps. But in response to the concerns expressed by councils in their reply to the consultation paper, we have maintained the existing designations in addition to the new maps, to ensure that all areas previously designated continue to be so, while we review the reasons for the discrepancies between the previous list and the new maps. Officials have discussed Tandridge's concerns with the council. All councils were informed of our decision to have a dual system in response to consultation in our business rates information letter 13/2001 of 10 December.