COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (072) issued by The Government News Network
on 25 March 2008
A new red tape
busting review to weed out bureaucratic hurdles and create a more
efficient planning service for the public and business, is being
launched today by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, Business
Secretary John Hutton and Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint.
Major reform to the planning system is already underway to give
communities a greater say in a faster decision making process for
large infrastructure projects. This review will look at the next
challenge of improving the planning application process from start
to finish to make it even more user friendly.
Local authorities have significantly improved their speed at
handling applications, with 75 per cent meeting their performance
targets, up from 25 per cent in 2001. However, there are still
slow and cumbersome parts of the process that the Government wants
to tackle, from unnecessary paperwork to delays after permission
has been granted.
New investment to empower local people to use the planning system
to shape their communities is also being announced today. Planning
Aid funding is being doubled to £3.2 million this year, to enable
more people to benefit from free independent advice to help them
comment on proposals, make representations at inquiries, or submit
a good planning application.
The review 'Planning Applications: a faster and more
responsive system' will examine what can disrupt the progress
of an application from when it is submitted up to and beyond when
a decision is made, and will be carried out by Joanna Killian,
Chief Executive of Essex County Council and David Pretty, former
Group Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC.
It will make recommendations for improving the process, but
importantly it will not seek to shift the balance of decision
making, weaken important safeguards, or reduce public consultation.
Some of the issues in the current system that could be addressed include:
* Unnecessary duplication of paperwork in the application
process. One part of a planning application for a housing
development, for example, needed 24 copies of every single page,
requiring a fork lift truck to deliver a dozen boxes.
* Delays occurring even after permission has been granted because
pre-build conditions like construction schedules and legal steps
are not being resolved quickly. One London application took 15
months after approval in principle to agree conditions.
* Councils making better use of technology like the internet to
notify people about planning applications, in addition to more
traditional ways of telling the public such as in libraries and on
notice boards.
Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears said:
"The planning system is how we shape our future and we want
to make it greener, more efficient and more empowering for local
communities. Good progress is being made but we want to create a
more user friendly system.
"By removing red tape and unblocking the bottlenecks that
are slowing down applications, we can create a planning system for
people that makes it is easier to apply, easier to be heard and
easier to be green."
John Hutton the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise &
Regulatory Reform said:
"We recognise the current planning regime is one of the top
five concerns for companies investing in the UK. Substantial
improvements have already been made, and this review will now
concentrate on how we can cut red tape and speed up the process
without reducing protections for local communities.
"This is another important step in our ambitious programme
to ease the burden of regulation in the private, public and third sectors."
Housing & Planning Minister Caroline Flint added:
"People often say they find the process of getting planning
permission confusing and bureaucratic. By modernising the system
and using new technology we can save everyone time and money and
deliver the kind of effective and responsive planning service
people deserve."
The study will report to Caroline Flint and Baroness Vadera. It
will specifically:
* Examine various case studies to see where bottlenecks and
delays occur and explore with stakeholders, such as local
authorities, how the application process can be improved. For
example by improving the pre and post application phases we can
free up councils to consider the next case sooner.
* Look at how technology such as e-planning can improve the
process for people and planners. For example using modern methods,
like the internet, may be the best way to notify the public of
development in some circumstances.
* Look at how a more proportionate system could better reflect
the impact of a development. For example instead of a 'one
size fits all' requirement for the supporting material needed
with an application it will look at how a more tailored system
might be better.
* Consider how statutory consultees like Highways Agency,
Environment Agency and Natural England engage sooner with the
application process.
Notes to Editors
1. Joanna Killian
Joanna joined Essex County Council as Director for Finance and
Performance in March 2005. She started her current role as Chief
Executive in June 2006 and was the first woman to hold the post,
aged 41. Before joining Essex County Council, Joanna was Director
of Local Government Performance and Improvement with the Audit Commission.
2. David Pretty
David Pretty retired as Group Chief Executive of Barratt
Developments at the end of 2006 after 40 years in the housing
industry, 27 of them with Barratt. He was made a CBE in 2007 for
services to housebuilding. Since retirement from Barratt, he has
remained active in the housebuilding sector, as a Director of the
Home Builders Federation (HBF), Chairman of the New Homes
Marketing Board, a trustee of The Prince's Regeneration Trust
and an appeal board member of Shelter, the homelessness charity.
He is also a non-executive Director of McCarthy & Stone,
Britain's largest provider of private retirement housing.
3. The Review team can be contacted at: reviewofplanningapplicationprocess@communities.gsi.gov.uk
4. Planning Aid provides free advice to all callers and more
detailed to eligible individuals and groups. It has been at the
forefront of engaging and giving an equal voice to all those
involved in planning. It specifically helps those on benefits,
pensioners, or people whose household income is low. It also
provides planning advice to small charities, voluntary and
community groups, and tenants' organisations with limited
funds or free reserves; Social enterprises and other
not-for-profit businesses.
5. Each Region in the UK has an outreach programme of
'Community Planning', which identifies groups who have
previously been excluded from the planning system or are
disadvantaged from years of not 'having a voice'. The
Community Planning programme works with these groups to develop
their ability to understand their opportunities and rights within
the planning system. Planning Aid also helps them find the right
channels to communicate their views better. Planning Aid services
can be contacted at info@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk.
6. The planning reform bill before parliament will change how we
deliver major infrastructure. It will change a system that is now
only delivering stalemate to a new single one that will revive our
energy supplies by processing big projects like wind farms faster.
7. Planning is also help make the country greener. New planning
rules (Policy Planning Statement on Climate Changes) require all
councils cut carbon emissions by setting targets for using local
renewable and low carbon energy in new housing developments and
homeowners can now install their own solar panels without having
to go through the system. Consultants ERM are today publishing a
working draft of practice guidance to help planners and others
implement the policies in the PPS. The working draft guidance is
now available from ERM's website at http://www.erm.com/practiceguidance
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