Planning Bill

I declare interests as a legal associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute and as a solicitor in private practice advising clients on a range of planning matters. The challenges that we face are significant and the infrastructure requirements of this country are formidable. If we are to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, it is clear that the infrastructure that will be required in the generation of energy—particularly electricity—and for transport will be significant. The speed with which these consenting decisions are taken will obviously be important, as it will be necessary to ensure that the infrastructure can be put in place as quickly as possible. As referred to at Second Reading, there have been delays in the consenting process. Terminal 5 was always given as one of those which took a particularly long time, but delays have occurred with a very large number of other infrastructure projects. Amendments Nos. 1 and 3, in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, go to the heart of decision-making. I noticed that the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, referred to the Government not having thought this matter through. With the greatest respect, we have had the Barker and Eddington reviews and a White Paper and these proposals have been around for a long time. Perhaps he does not agree with the conclusions reached, but I do not think that they can be characterised properly as not having been thought through. It appears to me that decisions on infrastructure can be divided into two broad areas. There are the strategic issues which face this country: do we invest in renewable energy, do we invest in nuclear energy, do we build a high-speed rail link between London and Leeds or, I hope, even to Scotland? This country will have to face up to those kinds of issues and decisions will have to be taken on them. Quite rightly, they are the prerogative of the Secretary of State and, of course, of Parliament, which is what the Government suggest through the national policy statement and the parliamentary process which will accompany the NPS. No one suggests that they should not be done by the Secretary of State and by Parliament. However, individual decisions which are quasi-judicial and which require, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has said, assessment of the evidence and judgments on that evidence are, I believe, more properly and better done by the body charged with assessing that evidence. For example, the local impact of a generating station can be assessed by the Infrastructure Planning Commission and a decision can be taken on that using the national planning statement to determine the decision, unless the local impacts provide otherwise. In my submission, that is the proper way to do it. Through legislation, we have rightly taken away from Ministers those decisions which are and should be independent. The assessment of evidence should be an independent process. I believe that the Government’s proposals aim to do that. On whether the Secretary of State should take the decision, the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, suggests that there is an issue as regards what people expect. I sometimes encounter cynicism about decisions made by the Secretary of State—that they are inevitable, one way or another, because they are supposedly in line with government policy. If one takes a final decision away from the Secretary of State and it is made independently, in accordance with the national policy statement, then the strategic issues are set by Government and by Parliament and the individual decision is taken by the Infrastructure Planning Commission. I hope that we will not go down the road of emasculating the IPC. It is important that it is the final arbiter of such decisions and I support the Government’s position on this.