Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for a good example of the improvements that I believe will be derived from our new localism agenda. I think we debated this back in March. For the first time, local people can produce neighbourhood plans, which will become a formal part of the planning system. Although I cannot promise another debate, there will be an opportunity later today, if my hon. Friend so wishes, to participate in the Whitsun recess debate to raise this matter. Our reforms strengthen local planning and we want local people to decide what they need and how their needs should be matched.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

There is growing bewilderment in Europe and concern among the Danish presidency that the UK is dragging its feet on proposals for Rio+20 that the Government had previously advocated. Will the Leader of the House obtain a clear commitment—perhaps from No. 10 or the Cabinet Office—that no instruction to that effect has been given to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, so that the Prime Minister, who has been appointed by Ban Ki-moon to do the follow-on from Rio, might look extra good afterwards by ensuring that expectations of the outcomes from Rio are dampened?

[Sir George Young]

I doubt whether there is any substance in the hon. Gentleman’s allegations about a somewhat sinister conspiracy to dampen expectations in the hope that the outcome might then look better. I will seek the necessary assurances and convey them to him.