asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what information has been submitted to him about the local and structure plans for the Broomhall area of Sheffield, the conservation area, and the proposal to construct a Church of England junior or middle school; what changes in existing plans are proposed; and in what way information about these changes is made available by his department to the public for inspection.

Structure and local plans under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1968, do not yet apply to Sheffield as Part I of the Act is being introduced gradually. Any planning application for a school at Broomhall will be treated as a departure from the approved development plan, and would be advertised by the local authority. My right hon. Friend has not been notified of any approval by the local authority of a conservation area. The public may obtain information on all these matters from the local planning authority.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there has been considerable confusion affecting residents in this area and that this has been partly due to the fact that the local authorities, the Department of Education and Science and the local authority department of education have not been too familiar with the new procedure? Is it a fact that the new procedure to be carried out by local authorities and others under recent legislation is clear?

This is a complex situation but I do not think it arises under the new Act. What happened in relation to the school was that the local authority thought that sufficient notice to land owners had not been given about this, and consequently at that stage it refused the application. The matter has now been considered again and I hope that there will be no difficulties of that kind.