My Lords, in moving Amendment 46C I shall speak also to Amendment 46D, in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding.
Amendment 46C is another amendment to speed up the process and encourage pre-application discussion between parties. As I said in Committee, this would be welcomed by all promoters of projects, but it appears that PINS has recently withdrawn inspectors from this pre-application work to focus on examinations. That is good for the examinations but it is regrettable because inspectors have a role, because of their seniority, in encouraging promoters to engage fully with the relevant consultees and stakeholders—and maybe knocking heads together.
The amendment would enable inspectors to participate in this pre-application work, if requested by the promoters. Of course, the great thing is that the promoters are prepared to pay the charges for the inspectors, so I would have thought that would be a welcome piece of extra revenue for the inspectorate, enabling it to recruit a few more people. Obviously it would be an entirely open and transparent process but it would speed up and improve the negotiations and relationships that are necessary between the promoter and all the various people they have to consult, as again was said in Committee.
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As the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, said in Committee, this would represent a “legislative imprimatur”. If I have not got the quote right, he can correct me. It seems to have everything going for it: a shorter and less costly pre-application period; better engagement with stakeholders; reducing the issues to debate; reducing the risk of PINS refusing to accept applications—I described one of these in Committee; reducing the need to overegg or gold-plate applications; a quicker examination process and fewer risks for the DCA of being challenged in court. It would be nice to hear that the Minister will either accept this or come back at Third Reading with an even better alternative.
Amendment 46D is to do with waivers and the question of whether application documents should be applied on the basis of one size fits all. We have heard about some applications such as Hinkley Point, which has a 48,000 page environmental statement, and Thames Water’s recent Thames tideway tunnel application, which occupies 16 metres of shelving. I do not know who is supposed to read all those things. I suppose it is people who might object but it does seem a little bit over the top. I know that the current regulations are being reviewed as part of the Cabinet Office’s planning administration Red Tape Challenge, but the National Infrastructure Planning Association believes that there is a very good precedent with the transport and works regime where you can have some flexibility in what documentation is required, saving a lot of money and time. It would be wonderful if the Government accepted
something like this and could claim a real success under the Cabinet Office’s planning administration Red Tape Challenge. I challenge the Minister to accept this. In the mean time, I beg to move.