Lipton to co-operate with inquiry

Sir Stuart Lipton, the chairman of the property developer Stanhope, has reacted for the first time to last week's announcement of a government inquiry into conflict-of-interest issues at the Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment (Cabe), the influential planning quango of which he is also chairman.

Sir Stuart issued a statement saying he would co-operate fully with the review, announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

However, Lord St John of Fawsley, who was the head of Cabe's predecessor, the Royal Fine Art Commission, has attacked the DCMS review, claiming it should be carried out by an independent body.

The review is being undertaken for the DCMS by outside auditors and will consider whether Cabe is operating in accordance with the Nolan principles with regard to Sir Stuart's commercial interests and those of Cabe's commissioners, who are appointed by the DCMS to oversee the quango's work

A spokesman for Sir Stuart said: "When he [Sir Stuart] was appointed in 1999 and re-appointed in 2002 his chairmanship of Stanhope was known and accepted by the DCMS.

"Clearly a body made up of industry figures in any sector will have connections and overlapping interest and for that reason clear and strong guidelines on conflicts are in place at Cabe."