Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 115
Insufficient detail on National Development Management Policies risks overriding local plans without oversight
Conclusion
It is regrettable that the Government has still not provided sufficient detail on the content of National Development Management Policies (NDMPs) for stakeholders to fully understand the impact they will have on the planning system. While NDMPs may make the plan-making process more efficient for local authorities, they will also result in local plans being overridden by national policy in some cases. This is contrary to the Government’s stated commitment to a plan-led system. Under the current wording of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will be able to override local plans unilaterally, potentially with no parliamentary oversight.
Government Response Summary
The government clarifies that National Development Management Policies will sit alongside local plans and be subject to public consultation before introduction, providing scrutiny, to ensure national policy protections apply without superseding the plan-led system.
Paragraph Reference:
115
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Government response Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, we are strengthening the role of the Development Plan in decision-making on planning applications so that communities will have more certainty about what development will happen in their areas and will have more confidence in their plan. We are doing this by changing section 38 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 so that planning applications must be decided in accordance with the Development Plan and any National Development Management Policies unless material considerations strongly indicate otherwise. Introducing National Development Management Policies will make sure that, when the decision-making test is changed, important national planning policy protections will continue to apply in planning decisions, even when policies in plans go out-of-date. At present national planning policy has variable weight in planning decision as a material consideration; giving National Development Management Policies statutory status will give greater clarity as to how decision makers should treat national planning policies when making planning decisions. This is crucial to reducing the number of successful planning appeals against local authorities’ decisions and therefore reducing the number of unanticipated developments communities face on their doorstep as a result. National Development Management Policies will not supersede the plan-led system, but will sit alongside the Development Plan, forming part of the suite of policies that need to be considered in determining applications. They will allow locally produced plans to focus on matters of genuine local importance, allowing them to be prepared and kept up to date more easily, further helping to secure a plan-led approach. National Development Management Policies will be subject to public consultation before they are introduced, other than in the exceptional circumstances set out in the Act, giving everyone with an interest, including Parliamentarians, the opportunity to scrutinise them and comment before they come into effect.