HC Deb 13 May 2004 vol 421 c474W
Mr. Gray

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether any of the Department's(a) present and (b) previous staff are members of the Friends of the Woodcraft Folk. [170753]

Alun Michael

There are no records of staff being members of the Friends of the Woodcraft Folk. Staff are not required to register their private interests, such as membership of clubs or societies, unless these bring them into direct conflict with their official duties. In these cases, staff must declare their interest to senior managers, who will determine how best to proceed on a case-by-case basis.

DEFRA's staff are subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code. This requires them to act with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity in carrying out their duties and to conduct themselves in such a way as to deserve and retain the confidence of Ministers.

Mr. Gray

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions have been held between her officials and Chichester district council about the Woodcraft Folk. [170755]

Alun Michael

The only discussions I am aware of relate to a campsite operated by the Woodcraft Folk in Lurgashall for which an approach was made for a camping exemption certificate. DEFRA has responsibility for camping exemption certificates under section 296 of the Public Health Act 1936. There were objections to the application and correspondence was received from the constituency MP and from MPs representing users of the campsite.

My officials held a meeting with members of the Woodcraft Folk, Chichester district council and Lurgashall parish council on 9 June 2003 to discuss the Woodcraft Folk's application for a camping exemption certificate.

The discussions demonstrated that there were differences of view regarding past usage of the site so I agreed to DEFRA's commissioning an independent mediator to facilitate a further discussion between the Woodcraft Folk and the two councils on 3 and 4 February 2004. In the light of the mediator's report, I agreed to issue a camping exemption certificate to the Woodcraft Folk for one year, subject to further discussion between the parties to resolve outstanding issues.