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Parish Councils (Planning)

My hon. Friend is right and I believe that I said that. Parish councils are not consultees in development control applications. I believe that they are statutory consultees on what is now called the local development framework, which I knew as the local plan. They must be notified, but no more, about development applications. They are not consultees in the same way as some others are. The scheme of delegation is another difficult matter. We all accept that, if we are to have an efficient planning system, not every application has to go before a full council committee. That does not make sense. However, in councils throughout the country, officers take more than 90 per cent. of the decisions. Applications do not get near elected members in committee, but are simply tackled by an officer, who may or may not be properly familiar with the concerns and needs of the local village.