Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 7:15 pm ar 23 Hydref 2003.
Mr Alan Hurst
Llafur, Braintree
With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 76 to 78 and 91 to 94.
Keith Hill
Minister of State (Housing and Planning), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
It is my pleasure to move the Amendment, which concerns the Secretary of State's powers to make regulations governing the application of parts of the new arrangements for regional and local planning under parts 1 and 2.
Amendment No. 76 would make express provision for regulations that set out requirements about inspection by the public of a draft revision of the regional spatial strategy or any other document. Amendment No. 92 is the equivalent for local development documents or any other documents under part 2.
One of our main aims in the reforms is to secure effective and robust opportunities for the public to engage with the new planning system, and the amendments help to achieve that. We have set out in draft the regulations that we intend to make. The provisions will ensure that there is consistency across the country to a reasonable standard based on current good practice. The public and others with an interest can have confidence in the new arrangements.
Amendments Nos. 77 and 93 provide for regulations under clauses 10 and 35 respectively to determine the time at which actions must be performed. The amendment is intended to provide proper flexibility to regional planning bodies and local planning authorities to move forward quickly the preparations of draft revisions to the regional spatial strategy and local development documents while safeguarding people's rights to be involved. The provisions cover the time at which representations on a draft revision of an RSS must be made. The RPB can determine that time, which must be not less than 12 weeks or, where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that a draft revision constitutes a minor amendment to the RSS, not less than six weeks.
Amendments Nos. 78 and 94 would allow RPBs and local planning authorities to make a reasonable charge for providing copies of documents that they are required to publish under parts 1 and 2 of the Bill or by regulation. As is currently the case, it is sensible that RPBs and local planning authorities should be able to recoup at least part of the costs of publishing documents should they choose to do so. Amendments Nos. 91 and 95 are simply intended to ensure consistency between parts 2 and 6 of the Bill. Amendment No. 91 would create a power in Clause 35 for regulations to set up procedures for the preparation of local development documents. There is already such a power in part 6.
Amendment No. 95 provides for regulation under clause 71 to establish the detail of the nature and extent of consultation with and participation by the
public in actions taken under part 6. That simply brings the arrangements for Wales into line with those for England. I notice a frisson of gratification among Welsh colleagues in Committee—it is my pleasure to have introduced that measure. There is already such a provision in clause 35.
With the exception of the Welsh provision, the amendments are not exciting, but they are nevertheless important and it was important for me to offer a proper explanation to the Committee.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made: No. 77, in clause 10, page 6, line 21, at beginning insert 'the determination of'.
No. 78, in
clause 10, page 6, line 24, at end add—
'( ) the making of reasonable charges for the provision of copies of documents required by or under this Part.'.—[Keith Hill.]
Clause 10, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
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A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
