Go for Growth: The Chancellor, Planning Reform and a weekend of activity

People often ask how I find the time to write these posts.

Well, due to a series of unfortunate events, this one was started huddled under a flyover on the side of the M4* and finished in Membury Services…. So, I guess the answer is, by taking the opportunities when they arise….

The need to take best advantage of opportunities when they present themselves is a bit of a theme today, and not just in my attempts to keep sane whilst dealing with roadside recovery. 

It can also be seen running through the very heart of both the Treasury's latest press release on how planning reform can unleash economic growth, and the latest working paper on proposed reforms to infrastructure planning, both of which came out today**

This post attempts to summarise the key points from both the press release and the working paper. Apologies if it is not my best attempt at analysis…. but as indicated earlier, there may be some extenuating circumstances….

Government goes further and faster on planning reform in bid for growth

So, let's start with the press release. Which is snappily titled “Government goes further and faster on planning reform in bid for growth”.

As is often the case with press releases, it can be a little tricky to discern exactly what is being proposed. Reading between the lines, however, it appears to promise:

• A National Development Management Policy (or policies) focused on promoting new development in “high potential locations near commuter transport hubs”.
• Brownfield Passports of some form or another.
• The introduction of Environmental Outcomes Reports (the enabling legislation for which is contained in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, but has yet to be brought into effect).
• Promoting local development orders and regeneration projects in Manchester; and
• Changes to the NSIP regime.

The press release also took the opportunity to remind us that, since July, government minister have made 13 planning decisions including “9 nationally significant infrastructure projects approved, collectively spanning airports, data centres, solar farms and major housing developments such as the Expansion of London City Airport, a data centre in Buckinghamshire and a new M&S store in Oxford Street, London. ”

Which is all very nice and shows a real intent to get things moving. A sentiment which I am personally finding a little ironic, given that our AA rescue is currently running about 20 minutes late….

Planning Reform Working Paper: Streamlining Infrastructure Planning

The working paper on streamlining infrastructure planning, as one might expect, contains a more concrete set of proposals for change.

The working paper commits the government to implementing the key recommendations of the Banner Review, namely:

• introducing target timeframes for deciding cases involving DCOs and the NSIP regime in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court;
• Reducing the number of permission attempts for NSIP judicial reviews from three to two by moving from a decision on the papers and an oral renewal hearing to a single oral permission hearing for all NSIP related judicial reviews; and
•  Removing the right of appeal to the Court of Appeal for all cases deemed 'totally without merit’ by the High Court.

It also proposes using the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to make two changes to the Planning Act 2008:

•  requiring each National Policy Statement to be updated at least every 5 years; and
• Introducing a more streamlined process for making changes to National Policy Statements.

As well as changing the NSIP consultation process by:

• Amending the Planning Act 2008 to change the application acceptance requirements in a way that supports taking more outcomes-based judgements in relation to ensuring effective and proportionate consultation has taken place. 
• introducing a new legislative duty on all parties to identify and narrow down any areas of disagreement during the pre-application stage;
• revising requirements around the contents of consultation reports so that they can report on the themes and issues raised across consultation responses; and
• removing the requirement to consult ‘Category 3’ persons during the pre-application stage.

The government is also proposing to:

• Encourage the use of Section 150 of the Planning Act 2008 to remove the requirement for further prescribed consents or authorisations once a DCO has been granted, subject to the consent of the relevant body that would otherwise grant that consent or authorisation, through the use of clearer guidance;
• Explore whether more licences etc could be granted as part of the DCO itself;
• Look at  whether there would be merit in enabling the Secretary of State to publish a ‘draft order’ alongside their decision letter and allow for a two-week window for applicants to propose any necessary minor corrections (restricted solely to typographical and referencing errors) to the DCO before it is published; and
• Consider a wide raft of changes designed to make DCOs more flexible and easier to amend. Many of these are specifically designed for renewable energy projects, so I will leave commenting on them to Claire and the wider team.

In short, it looks as the  government intends to use the Planning & Infrastructure Bill to drive a wide range of improvements to our national infrastructure consenting process - in the hope that this will boost economic growth. 

This clear link between the Bill and the government's growth agenda means that getting it through parliament is likely to be a significant government priority for the year ahead…..

…. With a bit of luck, I may have managed to leave Membury services by the time it becomes law.

*whilst cuddling a sleeping toddler

**Sunday 26 Jan