Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

The Secretary of State's consent will only be given if he is satisfied that:

the allotment in question is not necessary and is surplus to requirement;

adequate provision will be made for displaced plot holders, or that such provision is not necessary or is impracticable;

the number of people on the waiting list has been effectively taken into account;

the authority has actively promoted and publicised the availability of allotment sites and has consulted the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners: and

the implications of disposal for other relevant policies, in particular development plan policies, have been taken into account.

During the period 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009 98 applications for consent to dispose of statutory allotment have been determined. This includes 56 applications which were approved, two applications which were refused, five applications which were withdrawn and for 35 applications consent was not required or the applications were taken no further. In addition to these 98 determined applications there remained four still under consideration.

Those applications that were approved or refused were judged by the Government offices, on behalf of the Secretary of State, as either satisfying or not satisfying the criteria on the basis of which the Secretary of State is to grant consent for the disposal of statutory allotment sites.

Since April 2008 Government office west midlands have been responsible for determining all statutory allotment consent to dispose applications, on behalf of Secretary of State.