§ Mr. McCabeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what conclusions he has reached following the consultation exercise on his proposals for reforming the system of compulsory purchase and compensation. [71684]
§ The Deputy Prime MinisterIn my oral statement to the House today I referred to our proposals for planning reform. I announced that I am publishing today our response to the recent Planning Green Paper consultation, copies of which are in the House Library. I am also making public a more detailed statement entitled "Compulsory Purchase Powers, Procedures and Compensation; the way forward", copies of which are available in the House Library and on the ODPM website. This summarises our policy in the light of the responses to the December 2001 consultation paper.
The paper sets out our plans for making compulsory purchase and compensation simpler, fairer and quicker through a change to the compulsory purchase power for planning purposes, and through changes to procedures and compensation arrangements.
The Law Commission is continuing its work on consolidation, codification and modernisation of the current legislation, and will consult on its initial conclusions shortly.