Notes for the Guidance of Inspectors Holding Inquiries into orders and Special Road Schemes.

7. The Inquiry (continued)

Evening Sessions

7.35 Public inquiries should normally be conducted during morning and afternoon sittings in the manner of most other public tribunals. Occasional evening sessions for a specific purpose can prove useful but they should be considered as exceptions. Although statutory objectors are entitled to appear at an inquiry, even they should be required to demonstrate the necessity of an evening session before one is granted to hear their case. If an evening session is held, it should be towards the end of the inquiry when all other opportunities for hearing an objection have been exhausted. The Programme Officer should collect in advance a list of those wishing to speak together with a brief outline of the points they wish to make. An evening session should be held in lieu of, not in addition to, one of the earlier sessions in the day.

Withdrawn Objections, Conditionally Withdrawn Objections and Counter Objections

7.36 It is not the job of the Inspector to include information in his or her report to the Secretary of State / NAW which is peripheral or irrelevant to the issues in dispute. For example, if an objection is withdrawn before an inquiry opens or during the course of the inquiry, then it would be sufficient to report the fact that it was withdrawn. Usually, no further probing or questioning should be allowed by the parties, neither should the Inspector seek to reintroduce matters covered in the withdrawn objections. However, exceptions to this general rule may be appropriate where the withdrawn objection touched upon issues central to the consideration of the scheme, or raised a matter of national importance, but where the objector felt unable to pursue the objections because he / she was unavailable or unwilling to appear at the inquiry. Please refer to paragraphs 7.87 and 7.88 for guidance on the introduction of new evidence.

7.37 Participants may state at the inquiry that they would be willing to withdraw their objection if particular provisions were made in (say) a Works Agreement. The Inspector may agree with this and recommend confirmation of the Orders. However, if the objection is not formally withdrawn this can leave the Secretary of State / NAW with a problem. The difficulty arises from the fact that that if the Secretary of State wishes to confirm an Order, and there is an outstanding objection from a statutory undertaker, the Order may be subject to Special Parliamentary Procedure, with complex and time-consuming consequences. It is therefore important that Inspectors should obtain all possible information about such objections. This may, exceptionally, justify adjourning the inquiry for a short period whilst the statutory undertaker is contacted, so that a full explanation of the objection and its consequences may be sought. Where this situation arises during TWA cases, Inspectors should follow the advice provided in 7.33 above.

7.38 Whether or not the matter is resolved at the inquiry, the Inspector must deal conclusively with all objections unless the objector has given a written statement withdrawing the objection unconditionally. Objections should not be considered to be withdrawn until the inspector receives written confirmation. The recommendation in the Inspector's report should not be based on the assumption that that any objection will be withdrawn. The substance of all outstanding objections must be covered explicitly in the Inspector's report and conclusions.

7.39 If, after investigation, there is an outstanding 'holding' or 'technical' objection by a statutory undertaker, the Inspector's report should state clearly how much weight should be attached to the objection and why, making explicit whether the land involved is crucial to the scheme. The report can then take this conclusion into account in the final recommendation.

7.40 There may also be counter-objectors who, whilst supporting the scheme as originally proposed, would object to the provisions set out in any proposed agreement or modification which would satisfy the original objector. It may be difficult to gather evidence on this point, particularly where the suggestion of an agreement or modification only arises during the course of an inquiry, and the supporters of the scheme may be unaware of the potential implications if they are not in attendance. However, the Inspector should, as far as is reasonably practical, ensure that no-one's interests would be prejudiced by any suggested agreement or modification. If there is a potential conflict of interests, this should be taken into account in the conclusions section of the report and brought to the attention of the Secretary of State / NAW. See also paragraphs 7.64- 7.65 below.

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