My Lords, it is my pleasure to turn to the government amendments we are making to the permission in principle measure. Again, I must emphasise that these demonstrate that the Government have listened closely to the concerns expressed and have taken clear action to improve the functioning of the measure.
In Committee I set out the Government’s clear view that development involving fracking would not be suitable for permission in principle. To press home this assurance even further, Amendment 103 will set out in the Bill the type of,
“development consisting of the winning and working of minerals”,
which cannot be granted permission in principle. This definition encompasses development that may involve fracking, so I hope noble Lords will agree that this amendment is positive and a helpful clarification which should form part of the Bill.
I turn now to government Amendments 104 to 106. The Government have been consistently clear that only documents that have been through robust processes such as consultation and site assessment will be capable
of granting permission in principle and that these would therefore be limited to local plans, neighbourhood plans and new brownfield registers. During the debate on this measure in Committee, the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, tabled an amendment that sought to specify these documents in the legislation, which he felt would be an improvement to the Bill. In the light of his comments, I agreed that I would reflect further on the need for an appropriate amendment that lists and limits the qualifying documents capable of granting permission in principle. I hope that the noble Lord will be pleased to see that the amendments achieve this by setting out the specific documents capable of granting permission in principle. These are:
“a register maintained … under section 14A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004”,
introduced by Clause 137 of this Bill;
“a development plan document within the meaning of Part 2 of the 2004 Act … a neighbourhood development plan”.
I hope the amendment demonstrates that the Government have listened to the call for greater clarity on how PIP will be used and that it will be welcomed by noble Lords.
I turn to government Amendment 106A which contains two further changes to the permission in principle measure. First, the amendment will enable local authorities to vary the start date and end date of permission in principle granted on allocation. It will give greater local flexibility and allow the timings for permission in principle to better align with planning delivery of sites. The amendment will also allow local authorities to vary the end date of permission in principle granted on application. It aims to mirror Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which currently allows local authorities to vary the timing of planning permission. We will set out the prescribed period for the duration of permission in principle in secondary legislation, which will apply if local authorities choose not to set the length of permission in principle themselves.
Secondly, the amendment will extend our statutory guidance power to enable the Secretary of State to issue guidance on how local authorities should handle the technical details of the consent process. It is important that we make it as clear as possible for local authorities, developers, statutory bodies and the general public how the new permission in principle system and the resulting technical details consent stage should work. The guidance will also help to make permission in principle fully accessible to all users, thereby placing strong expectations on how, where and in what circumstances permission in principle and technical details consent can be granted.
I hope noble Lords agree that issuing guidance will inevitably prove helpful by maximising the clarity and overall success of these measures, and that the amendments will therefore become part of the Bill. I hope also that these amendments resolve some of the concerns expressed during consideration in Committee. In the light of my introductory comments, I hope noble Lords will see the value of these measures and support them. I beg to move.