Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008. The noble Lord said: I apologise to Members of the Committee in advance for any errors that I make; I am rather full of cold, so you will have to bear with me, but I will try to be as clear as I can about this important order. The regulations were laid before the House on 5 March. They introduce new levels of planning application fees, and one new fee. If approved by this House and in another place, the regulations would come into effect on 6 April, the next common commencement date. The principle underlying the planning fee regime is that would-be developers, rather than the council tax payer, should meet the bulk of the costs incurred by local planning authorities. A local planning authority’s work in this area includes the validation and registration of applications, followed by statutory notification, consultation and publicity, so that interested parties can comment. It involves maintaining an electronic and a paper version of the planning register and incorporating any revisions to the plans. It also includes writing to applicants and objectors, undertaking site visits, assessing the merits of each case and considering any representations about it. The Government’s policy is that, in aggregate across England, the income generated by planning application fees should, as far as possible, cover the estimated total costs incurred by local planning authorities as a result of those activities. The last fee increase was in 2005, based on evidence gathered in 2003. In 2006, the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned independent research to look afresh at the extent to which costs incurred by local authorities are recovered from fees paid by applicants. The research, published on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s website, included a survey of local planning authorities and their resources. Arup’s report suggests that the total cost of the development control service is approximately £290 million to £365 million per annum, but fee income for 2005-06 was only £232 million. It concluded that, in aggregate, fee income has dropped below what is required to meet costs; whereas an overall increase of around 25 per cent would enable authorities not only to meet those costs but to maintain their standards of performance. However, the Government would prefer to shield householder applicants from the full increase. Their fees are to go up by 11 per cent—that is, an extra £15. Other basic fees will go up by 25 per cent. The effect of this overall is a 23 per cent increase in planning fees—a figure at the lower end of what local authorities felt would be necessary for them to maintain a good and efficient service. We believe that a greater increase would be right for the maximum fee which the regulations impose in some fee categories. Last year, in our consultation, we were proposing to abolish these maxima altogether; an idea that many local authorities supported. However, following representations and on reflection, an increase is now proposed. For most types of development where a fee cap is currently imposed, the maximum would be raised to £250,000, or £125,000 if the application is for outline permission. By contrast, the maximum fee for certain minerals and waste applications would go up only to £65,000. I acknowledge the point made by the CBI, the Quarry Products Association and other consultees, that financial returns in relation particularly to the area of mineral extraction sites tend to be disproportionately low. Only a small minority of projects trigger payment on that scale, but it is precisely those large and complex proposals that local councils find most difficult to assess and determine promptly with existing resources. For some large-scale major applications the separate arrangements for funding planning performance agreements will help, but for every other type of scheme, no matter how demanding of resources, the administrative cost ought to be met from planning fee income. I remind the Committee that four out of five authorities in England are now achieving the planning application handling targets we set for them in the context of best value indicators and the planning delivery grant regime. We have also seen efficiencies in the delivery of local authority services where authorities have been required to deliver their overall responsibilities efficiently. Indeed, they have a good track record in achieving efficiency savings; not only have they exceeded their SR04 target one year early but they have forecast achievement of further efficiencies by the end of 2007-08 that would be in excess of the SR04 target. The Merits Committee of your Lordships’ House has expressed concerns about where the incentive lies for an authority to control costs. In addition to the overall efficiency savings I have outlined, there is a real incentive for local planning authorities to determine planning applications efficiently and effectively because, where the cost of handling a planning application exceeds the fee payable, any shortfall must be covered from other council revenue or through subsidy from council tax, both of which are hard pressed. We propose to introduce one new fee, which is for a request to the local planning authority for confirmation of compliance with one or more conditions imposed on a planning permission. That is designed to give developers greater confidence, especially where they wish to proceed to the next stage of a phased development or to sell the land on. The fee would be £85, or £25 if in connection with householder development. The only fee not to change will be that imposed in 2006 for monitoring mining and landfill sites. The increases set out in the draft regulations before the Committee will keep planning application fees at a modest level for developers, compared to overall project costs, while enabling local councils to recover a fair proportion of their administrative costs from those who benefit most from the service provided and from any permission given. Research suggests that if we did not secure increases at the level proposed, the deficit for local planning authorities would be in the region of £65 million in 2008-09. For those reasons, I commend the regulations to the Committee. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008. 12th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.—(Lord Bassam of Brighton.)