asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to the North West Regional Assembly's enumeration of cemeteries and places of worship among the “decent high quality services”, the delivery of which their regional spatial strategy aims to ensure; and whether they consider that inclusion of these words would be helpful to small faith groups in other regions.[HL1474]

The North West Regional Assembly has submitted some proposed wording changes to the text of the “Living in the North West” section of the draft submitted North West Regional Spatial Strategy for the independent panel to consider at the current examination in public. This section includes proposed regional policies and supporting text on housing, health, sport, recreation, culture and education.

The proposed changes include the deletion of the word “decent”, and the addition of the words “high quality” concerning the list of services provided by public and private means, and the addition of “places of worship, cemeteries” in the list itself. The guidance on propriety states that Her Majesty's Government and officials are unable to enter into discussions with interested parties on the draft strategy during the examination or while consideration is being given to the panel's report.

The content of other English regions' draft RSSs is a matter initially for their regional assemblies, and is subject to the same statutory process.