Local authorities are already required under section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 to obtain consent from the Secretary of State to dispose of statutory allotments. Section 8 applications are considered against criteria set out by the Secretary of State, which require local authorities to ensure that adequate provision is made for displaced allotment holders, that the availability of allotment sites has been actively publicised, and that they have taken into account the number of people on the allotment waiting list as well as latent demand.
Given the ever increasing demand for allotments, my Department has recently written to the Government office responsible for determining applications for consent for disposal of statutory allotments in England on behalf of the Secretary of State, to stress the need to demand and scrutinise evidence from local authorities to support their applications for allotment disposals.