Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Heseltine calls for six month time limit on planning decisions

01 Nov 2012, 4:04 pm

Planning applications that remain undecided after six months should automatically be directed to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for determination, former cabinet minister Lord Heseltine in a new growth report . (233-page / 2.45MB)

Local planning authorities should publish statements on any planning applications that remain undecided after three months, explaining in "clear and unbiased" terms what the issues are. Any application still undecided after six months should automatically go before PINS, the report said.

"Planning decisions are still too often lengthy and bureaucratic. There is simply no sense of urgency or any understanding of the economic cost of delays. The appeals system adds more time to the process. Nowhere else can the pedestrian speed of decision making in this country – and its effects – be more damaging than in planning," the report said.

Lord Heseltine called for similar measures to be made applicable to the appeals process. Issues should be "known and articulated" after three months and decisions should be made after no more than six months, the report said.

The report follows recent Government measures to allow planning applications to be determined by PINS where a local planning authority has a consistently poor track record in the speed and quality of its decision. The Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which is currently awaiting second reading in Parliament, introduces provisions to allow the Secretary of State to "designate" local planning authorities for this purpose. It does not, however, set a deadline for when undecided applications should be referred to PINS.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) released its quarterly statistics on planning applications earlier this week. These showed that for the year ending June 2012 only 57% of major planning applications were decided within the 13 week target timeframe set by the Government. For minor applications, with an eight week target timeframe, 70% were decided within that period.

Prime Minister David Cameron commissioned Lord Heseltine to undertake the review in March this year, asking him to report on how the Government might more effectively create wealth in the UK. The report was presented yesterday in Birmingham City Hall.