Planning Bill

moved Amendment No. 13A: 13A: Schedule 1, page 143, line 4, leave out sub-paragraph (2) The noble Lord said: I apologise that this is a manuscript amendment. I can only plead that the lawyers—working very late, as so many lawyers do—got the amendment to me after the Public Bill Office had closed on Friday, so I could not table it until this morning. The Public Bill Office seemed to think that I would be in order to move it as a manuscript amendment. The issue is comparatively simple. Paragraph 7(2) in relation to the council reads: "““The chair may at any time end a person’s appointment as an ordinary member of the Council””." Given what we have just been discussing about this moveable body—this chameleon-like body—at first sight it might seem a reasonable thing for the chairman to be able to do. He may want to remove one member of the council and perhaps appoint another. However, it has been represented to me that that could lead to potential abuse with quite serious implications. Under the Bill, a single commissioner can be appointed to handle a particular application, as we have seen, and in cases dealt with by a single commissioner the procedure concludes with the submission of a report to the council. But the power of the chair to remove a commissioner from the council could be used, for example, to remove an individual who has adopted a consistent approach in opposing the grant of development consent for a particular type of nationally significant infrastructure project. One hopes that the people appointed to the commission will not be people who come with preconceived ideas, but such things might happen. I believe that reassurance is required that this power will not be used, because the noble Baroness has made it absolutely clear that the commissioners must have a tenure so that they are not subject to the fear of removal if they make unpopular decisions. Yet this sub-paragraph seems to suggest that a member of the council might be subject to such pressures by the chairman—not by external forces. That anxiety has been raised with me and it is appropriate that I should raise it in this Committee this evening. I beg to move.