Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 5
5
We welcome the Government’s proposal that having an up to date Local Plan should be...
Recommendation
We welcome the Government’s proposal that having an up to date Local Plan should be a statutory requirement on local authorities. We also welcome the proposal that Local Plans should be more focused and shorter. But we do not agree that the 30-month timeframe proposed for the development of Local Plans is enough to ensure high quality. We are particularly concerned about the challenges the proposal poses for statutory consultees, especially as all plans will have to be addressed within the same timeframe. The Government should extend the 30-month timeframe for the initial production of Local Plans as it is too short for creating new plans from scratch. The Government must ensure that statutory consultees have time to comment on Local Plans. The Government should consider a staggered roll-out of the new types of Local Plans across the country. It should be permissible and straightforward to undertake quick updates of Local Plans every two years, including with appropriate time for public consultation. The Government should consider the case for confirming that the National Grid is a statutory consultee in new Local Plans. (Paragraph 45) The future of the planning system in England 101
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
12. The Government does not accept the recommendation to extend the 30 month timeframe to produce new Local Plans. Currently only 41% of England‘s local authorities have a local plan that was adopted in the last five years; meaning there are swathes of the country where the public have little confidence in where development is going to happen. Because it takes over 7 years on average to put a plan in place, many councillors are unlikely to see the benefits of a plan during an electoral cycle. 13. The Government considers that it is important to retain ambitious timetables for plan production and that because of a number of reforms – including removing the duty to cooperate, reducing the evidence burden, changing the soundness tests at examination - 30 months is achievable. The detail of these changes will be set out in regulations made under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The Government will consult on the detail of these regulations in due course. The Government is also considering how best to support local authorities in being prepared to meet this aim. 14. Local Authorities will be required to keep local plans up to date and will retain the flexibility to carry out partial updates. They will also be able to adopt new ‘supplementary plans’ as part of the development plan for their area. These plans will be subject to consultation and independent examination and will provide flexibility to introduce new policies for particular locations outside of the local plan-making cycle. 15. The Government agrees that local authorities should have time to transition to the new system and will be setting out further details shortly.