'(1) In the principal Act for section 76 (Duty to draw attention to certain provisions for benefit of disabled) there is substituted the following section—

''76 Access Statements

(1) Any application for planning permission shall not be entertained by the local planning authority, or as the case may be, by the Secretary of State unless it is accompanied by an access statement.

(2) An 'access statement' is a statement which demonstrates that the applicant has fully considered the access requirements of disabled people in relation to the whole development and has described how they intend to meet them.

(3) An access statement shall, in particular, demonstrate that the proposed development complies with relevant statutory duties, relevant access standards and any policies on inclusive design included in the local planning authority's development plan.

(4) Relevant statutory duties include—

(a) the duties of persons providing buildings to which the public are to be admitted, under sections 4 and 7 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 to make provision for members of the public who are disabled;

(b) the duties of persons providing universities, schools, offices and other premises, under sections 7, 8 and 8A of that Act, to make provision for people who are disabled;

(c) the duties of employers and trade organisations, under sections 6 and 15 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act, to make adjustments to premises; and

(d) the duties of service providers, under section 21 of that Act and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act, to make adjustments to premises

(e) the duties of education providers, under section 28T of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act;

(3) Relevant access standards include—

(a) British Standard 8300 ''Designing buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people'' or any document replacing it; and

(b) in the case of developments related to new housing, the Lifetime Homes standard.''

(2) In the principal Act, after section 76 there is inserted the following section—

''76A.Duty to have special regard to needs of disabled people

(1) In dealing with an application to which this section applies the local planning authority, or as the case may be, the Secretary of State shall have special regard to the needs of disabled people and in particular the duties and standards mentioned in section 76.

(2) This section applies to—

(a) an application under sections 62 or 73 for planning permission;

(b) an application under section 92 for the approval of reserved matters; and

(c) an application for the approval of details required under a condition of a grant of planning permission (including a permission granted by a development order).

(3) In this section, the terms ''disabled'' and ''disabled people'' shall be construed in accordance with section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.''

(3) In the Listed Buildings Act 1990—

(a) in section 16 (decision on application), after subsection (2) there is inserted the following subsection—

''(2A) In considering whether to grant listed building consent for any works or to approve details under a condition of a listed building consent, the local planning authority or the Secretary of State shall also have special regard to the needs of disabled people.''

(b) in section 91(2) (interpretation), before ''development plan'', there is inserted ''disabled people,''.

(4) In the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979—

(a) in section 2 (control of works affecting scheduled monuments), after subsection (3) there is inserted the following subsection—

''(3A) In considering whether to grant scheduled monument consent for any works or to approve details under a condition of such a consent, the Secretary of State shall have special regard to the needs of disabled people.''

(b) in section 61(1) (interpretation), before ''designation order'' there is inserted—

''''disabled people'' has the same meaning as in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;''.'—[Matthew Green.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment No. 132, in

clause 5, page 3, line 38, at end insert—

'(c) Include details of the steps to be taken to meet the access needs of disabled people.'.

Amendment No. 147, in

clause 10, page 6, line 24, at end add—

'(j) the steps to be taken by the RPB to ensure the draft revision and appraisal under section 5 furthers the social inclusion/access needs of disabled people.'.

Amendment No. 173, in

clause 56, page 40, line 40, at end insert—

'(c) The authority's policies for meeting the access needs of disabled people'.

Amendment No. 148, in

clause 14, page 8, line 25, at end insert—

'(ff) how it will meet the access needs of disabled people.'.

Amendment No. 172, in

clause 54, page 39, line 33, at end insert

'including how the Plan will meet the access needs of disabled people'.

The new clause and group of amendments would give planning authorities a statutory duty to have special regard to the needs of disabled people when considering planning applications. There is a Government manifesto commitment to revise section 76 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to do exactly that. The new clause and the amendments, many of which are supported by Conservative Members, have been tabled by a coalition consisting of the Disability Rights Commission, Radar, the Royal National Institute of the Blind, and the joint mobility unit at the RNIB and the Town and Country Planning Association, which

has given us the wording, and the briefing behind it. I hope that the Government will leap at the opportunity to meet their own manifesto commitment.

New clause 30 requires developers to submit an access statement with their planning application demonstrating how their scheme will be accessible and exclusive, and gives the planning authorities a statutory duty to have special regard to the needs of disabled people when considering planning applications. Amendment No. 132 requires regional spatial strategies to include details of how they will meet the access needs of disabled people.

Amendment. No. 147 would ensure that the regulations made provision for the steps to be taken by the regional planning body to ensure that the draft provision and appraisal under section 5 furthered the social inclusion and access needs of disabled people. Amendment. No. 173 requires local development plans in Wales to include details of how they will meet the access needs of disabled people. Amendment. No 148 requires local development schemes to specify how they will meet the access needs of disabled people, and amendment No. 172 requires the Welsh spatial plan to include details of the policies of the National Assembly for Wales for meeting the access needs of disabled people.

I could speak at length on this subject, not least because I have been provided with an extensive briefing. I hope that the Minister will accept the thrust of it, and I shall not have to quote the reasons why she should accept it. Not wanting to detain the Committee so that we can move on, and—I hope—get the Government's acceptance, I shall leave it at that.

We, too, considered the question of access for disabled people. We tabled many amendments similar to those of the hon. Gentleman, but he got there first, so his amendments were selected. In principle, in the plan-making process, it is absolutely right that there should be full consideration of access for disabled people, which we wholeheartedly support. Every planning applicant should be expected at least to consider this matter. However, I have a slight concern that if we go completely over the top, we could involve the country in a huge cost that is not required. I shall give the hon. Gentleman an example. To require every house in a housing estate development to provide access to disabled people would clearly be an unnecessary use of resources, but requiring a proportion of those houses to provide such access might be reasonable. We need to keep a sense of proportion and strike a balance in dealing with this subject. Having said that, I am hugely sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman's amendments. I hope that the Government will also be sympathetic to them and that they will honour their manifesto commitments.

I shall not repeat the purpose and effect of the new clause and amendments, which have already been set out by hon. Members, but I should say that I have considerable sympathy for the intentions behind them. I met representatives of the DRC and

other groups to discuss the issue. They cited as an example of the problem that concerned them the London Mayor's building, which was designed throughout to be accessible to wheelchairs, and to promote pedestrian access and sustainable development over car use. They pointed out that, perversely, it is actually very difficult to get to by car if one is disabled. They argued that issues relating to access and disability should therefore be considered at the beginning of the planning process rather than at the end. I must say that I find their arguments very persuasive.

I will set out how we are seeking to respond to these concerns. New clause 30 seeks to include in the Bill a requirement for access statements for all sorts of planning permission, but clause 41 already introduces new powers to make an order. The order can specify the form and the manner in which a planning application must be made, what must be included in an application, and the documents and other material that must accompany it. Those powers are intended to introduce the standard application form for all local planning authorities.

Before making any prescription, we obviously want to seek stakeholders' views on the forms as part of our proposed consultation, which is due around the turn of the year. I must not prejudge that consultation, but a strong case has been made for including an access statement as one of the documents that would accompany the form in appropriate cases. Such an access statement would be a way of ensuring that developers are aware of disability issues at the beginning, rather than the end, of the process. This statement is probably a more appropriate way of achieving access than including the requirement in the Bill, because it allows for greater flexibility to respond to new issues that arise over time, which is exactly how we deal with much of the work within the planning framework.

Amendments Nos. 132, 173, 148 and 172 require regional spatial strategies, local development schemes, local development plans in Wales and the Wales spatial plan to include details of how they will meet the access needs of disabled people.

However, clause 38 already places a statutory requirement on those responsible for preparing the regional spatial strategies, the local development documents and local development plans to undertake these functions with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. This will be defined in PPS1—planning policy statement 1—which we hope to issue in draft for consultation very shortly.

PPS1 will set out four objectives for sustainable development: economic development, social inclusion, protection of the environment and prudent use of resources. It will refer explicitly to issues relating to meeting the needs of those with disabilities, and will make it clear that planning authorities should consider how their plans address the four objectives for sustainable development, which should include social inclusion. They should also seek to develop policies to optimise outcomes that deliver across all those objectives.

PPS1 will also make it clear that the impact of development on the social fabric of communities will be taken into account. Factors such as the provision of social facilities, public space, accessibility and diversity will all need to be considered. As I have said, that will include taking into account access issues and the needs of disabled people and other groups such as black and minority ethnic groups and other disadvantaged groups. I have a personal interest in ensuring that social inclusion also means access for pushchairs, given the number of shops, railway stations and other buildings where manoeuvring a pushchair can be difficult.

Regional spatial strategies and local development documents need to reflect the aims of sustainable development, including access and inclusion. Local authorities will determine applications in line with the development plan, so policies for sustainable development will set the framework for decisions on planning applications. The recently published consultation drafts of PPS11 and PPS12 set out how sustainable development considerations can be addressed in regional and local plans.

Amendment No. 147 would enable the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying the steps to be taken by the regional planning body to ensure that the draft revision of the regional spatial strategy and the accompanying sustainability appraisal would further the social inclusion and access needs of disabled people.

Clauses 5(4) and 18(5) would already require a sustainability appraisal of the proposals in a plan, at the preparation stage. The appraisal is intended to test the performance of a plan against the objectives of sustainable development as set out in PPS1, and to provide a basis for improvement. In the light of that, the sustainability appraisal will need to take account of any consequences for disabled people's access.

Many of the issues encompassed by the amendments are already included in existing proposals. I am thinking of PPS1 in particular, but also PPS11 and PPS12, which set out issues relating to access to documents and processes.

It is our clear intention that people with disabilities should have an early opportunity to influence the content of regional spatial strategy and local development documents. In addition, the recently published draft regulations, to be made under parts 1 and 2 of the Bill, make it clear that regional planning

bodies and local planning authorities will be required formally to consult certain bodies, including those that represent people with disabilities.

We intend, through clause 38 in particular, to ensure that the planning process is inclusive and that at every stage account is taken of the needs of people with disabilities. I recognise the concerns of hon. Members, the Disability Rights Commission and other disabilities groups. The approach to the planning framework has always been to put the outline in legislation, while many of the most important issues are dealt with in the planning policy guidance and planning policy statements, or other guidance and regulations, so that there is flexibility to respond to new concerns. For example, issues relating to renewable energy, planning out crime, design, brownfield rather than greenfield sites, and retail development are set out in guidance rather than in legislation. Green belt policy itself is in PPG2. Yet all those issues are powerfully taken into account in the planning process.

The Minister will be aware that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 brought the Disability Rights Commission into being, and that provisions under that Act are about to come into force so that for all public buildings there will be a requirement if not to provide access, at least to give consideration to access for all disabled people by a specified time; I think that the time available is fairly short. That clearly impinges on new planning applications, and I find it slightly odd that the Bill will not specify anything about new planning applications and disabled people's access to buildings, but that everything is to be done in regulations.

I recognise the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. First, as I have already said, one of our intentions with regard to the access statements is to establish early awareness of the issues, and particularly of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. I am sympathetic on this issue. Important points have been raised. I want to ensure that disability issues are dealt with in practice throughout the process. The approach has always been that many issues are dealt with in planning policy statements, and so on, so we should explore that approach first. However, I am keen to consider the matter further.

It being twenty-five minutes past Eleven o'clock, The Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.

Adjourned till this day at half-past Two o'clock.