asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities accord to officers employed by them the right to spare-time private employment drawing plans or doing other work for those who subsequently apply for planning consents or building consent; and what guidance his Department has issued, or intends to issue, on this subject.

Individual terms of employment are matter for the local authorities concerned; I have no information about the extent of the practice referred to. My Department has neither issued nor contemplate guidances on the matter.