Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many days on average (a) it took for planning inspectors to examine a local plan and (b) there were between a local plan being submitted to a planning inspector and the inspector making a determination on that plan in each of the last five years for which information is available.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The examination stage covers the period from the date of plan submission to the Planning Inspectorate, to the issue of the Inspector’s final report.
Year | Average number of days between submission and issue of Inspector's final report (all post - 2004 Local Plans) |
2018 | 600 |
2017 | 595 |
2016 | 590 |
2015 | 502 |
2014 | 449 |
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the process by which neighbourhood plans are agreed; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the timescale to agree neighbourhood plans.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Neighbourhood plans are agreed via local referendums and, to date, there have been over 700 successful referendums. In 2016 the Government introduced reforms through the Housing and Planning Act to speed up and simplify the neighbourhood planning process including setting time limits to ensure local authorities make timely decisions at key stages. These reforms were supported by the publication of sector-led and Government planning guidance. The Government continues to keep these recent reforms to the neighbourhood planning process under review.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect on and (b) additional costs incurred by (i) local planning authorities and (ii) qualifying bodies producing a Neighbourhood Development Plan of undertaking assessments of the implications for European Sites of those plans.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Officials from my Department are aware of the judgment and are continuing to monitor a range of implications. No formal assessment has been made of the likely costs of the ruling for Local Planning Authorities or Qualifying Bodies.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the requirements relating to Habitats Regulations Assessments and European Sites on the ability of qualifying bodies to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Officials from my Department are aware of the judgment and are continuing to monitor a range of implications.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will revise Planning Policy and Planning Guidance to enable decision-makers to refuse planning applications on grounds where (a) an applicant provides misleading and inaccurate information in a Statement of Community involvement submitted with a planning application and (b) an applicant proposing a major development who deliberately circumvents a local planning authorities' stated expectations of the pre-application consultation process.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government recognises that it is important that local planning authorities, communities and Planning Inspectors can rely on the information contained in planning applications, and applicants or those representing them are asked to confirm that the information provided is, to the best of their knowledge, truthful and accurate. There are no current plans to amend existing planning policy and guidance in this regard.
Local planning authorities are encouraged to provide pre-application advice to applicants. Pre-application engagement by prospective applicants offers significant potential to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning application system and improve the quality of planning applications and their likelihood of success. It is possible for an applicant to suggest changes to an application before the local planning authority has determined the proposal. It is equally possible after the consultation period for the local planning authority to ask the applicant if it would be possible to revise the application to overcome a possible objection. It is at the discretion of the local planning authority whether to accept such changes, to determine if the changes need to be re-consulted upon, or if the proposed changes are so significant as to materially alter the proposal such that a new application should be submitted.
An application for planning permission is not valid unless it is accompanied by a certificate which applicants must complete that provides certain details about the ownership of the application site and confirms that an appropriate notice has been served on any other owners (and agricultural tenants). It is an offence to complete a false or misleading certificate, either knowingly or recklessly, with a maximum fine of £5,000.
A person who makes a false or misleading statement in connection with a planning application, knowing that it was or might be untrue or misleading, with the intent to make a gain for himself may be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006.