Government outlines plans for deregulation of consent regimes

The Penfold Review explored how consents other than planning consents should work and recommended ways to improve flexibility and to streamline the process.

The Government aims to improve the consent regimes to ensure they operate in a flexible and simple way and are not, as the Penfold Review found, "numerous and complex". The Review said that this created delay, cost and uncertainty for business.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced.

that it aims to remove and simplify unnecessary development consents; reform the public bodies advising on development consents; set clear timescales for deciding the applications, and make it easier to apply for consents.

Listed building consent is one of the most common applications made. The Government’s proposals are to define the extent of a listed building's ‘special interest’, so that only those parts that are defined will be listed, thereby removing the need to apply for listed building consent for works that impact on other parts of a building outside of the defined interest.

The Government plans to allow local authorities and owners of listed building to enter into an agreement to allow certain works to be carried out without the need to obtain listed building consent. It also plans to remove the need to apply for consent to demolish an unlisted building in a Conservation Area and make the demolition subject to planning permission instead.

Other suggested measures to reform the heritage consent regime include the creation of a prior approval system and defining the compensation requirements for the compulsory purchase of listed buildings.

In support of the proposed reforms, both English Heritage and Natural England will provide more detail on specific consents with an aim of streamlining the consenting process. The Government also plans to consult on improvements to the interaction between the highways and planning systems.

In line with the Government’s plans, the Environment Agency, Natural England, English Heritage, the Highways Agency, and the Health and Safety Executive will have the promotion of sustainable development clearly earmarked as a priority.

The Government will set a deadline of 13 weeks for the processing of the majority of consent applications. The time available will be shorter when other timetables are agreed. These changes will go live on the Government's Planning Portal from April 2012.

The BIS announcement contains a timetable outlining the schedule for completion for each task, with completion dates ranging from the end of 2011 to 2013, depending on the availability of Parliamentary time.