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Planning Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, for giving us an opportunity to have this debate. It is an extremely important issue. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, for flagging up our Front Bench’s concerns that we make progress. He did so beautifully; far better than I could have done by wagging my finger. Discussing the two amendments in this group is important to clarify the nature of the debate on the degree of specificity needed within the NPS. Amendment No. 41 of the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, and the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, and their Amendment No. 45 with the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, would alter Clause 5 to remove the discretion of the Secretary of State to identify a particular location or site as suitable, potentially suitable, or unsuitable. They would also remove the discretion to identify an individual statutory undertaker as appropriate to carry out a specified description of development. I understand that these are probing amendments and hope that I can address all the questions that have been raised. I am conscious that we are bedevilled by terminology and debating a rather elusive concept. We were helped greatly by the panel discussion we had last week, with different promoters and the CBI, about the interpretation of locations in terms of different demands and possibilities for different types of infrastructure. The noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, have already drawn attention to the difference between ““location specific”” and ““site specific””. NPSs are locationally specific and will indicate, as appropriate to the particular infrastructure they are concerned with, places which are suitable or potentially suitable locations for development. However, they will not identify specific sites. It will be for the developer to bring forward the site application, and for the IPC to determine whether that site meets the criteria. It will be left to the IPC to consider the detail of specific sites, layout, access and, of course, to weigh up the adverse impacts of the proposed project. I shall come to the important question of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, on this a little later. The case for some NPSs to address issues of suitable locations is simply logical. Although I take the point made by my noble and learned friend Lord Boyd, when planning for infrastructure it makes no sense to leave a policy vacuum and to leave the policy in the abstract. Certainly, although NPSs will differ in the detail they can offer about where certain infrastructure may or can go, they will be able to identify places which are unsuitable. I take the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, about the way in which we have approached this issue in the past and the chaos and blight that have been caused by some of the ways in which it has been approached. In their amendments noble Lords argue that it is inappropriate for NPSs to identify a location because this would amount to implied planning permission. It is not planning permission or implied planning permission because planning permission permits development of a certain description to go ahead in a particular location. Even outline planning permission establishes a principle that development can take place in a particular location. To specify a potential location does not establish any such principle, it simply means that a location may be suitable for a certain type of development. In previous debates we have rehearsed at length the fact that NPSs will provide the primary reference point for the IPC, the strategic framework which draws together and integrates policy. By determining clear and predictable criteria they will also critically provide a clear and predictable framework for investment decisions. For all the reasons that the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, pointed out, this is what we are all aiming to address. Some NPSs will be more locationally specific than others. Ministers have already given assurances in the other place that NPSs for nuclear and air transport—the two most contentious forms of development covered by the Bill—will be locationally specific. It is at this point of the deliberation that the national debate and the debate on area effects is bound to be most intense. While these national policy statements will exist to address the national need, they will also make it clear that they will be driven by logic dictated by geography, geology and demography, which will mean that certain places are more suitable for some developments than others. Making the reasons for that decision clear is very important as it will mean that the political judgment within which the IPC will in turn take the final decisions over the site has been set by Ministers and is subject to scrutiny by Parliament and to public consultation. However, it will be difficult and may not be appropriate to specify locations in all NPSs. The possible range of locations can be very wide for wind farms or gas-fired power stations. The NPS would not only not want to specify location, it would be impossible to cover all the options. This is where the broad areas might be indicated, but local considerations have to come fully into play. There are other considerations as well. For other types of infrastructure there may be real issues of market flexibility and the ability of the market to respond to demand. Ports would fit into this band. Geography would be bound to narrow choices, but at the same time there needs to be scope and flexibility for market choice as well. If we specified locations which would imply a choice, we would intervene significantly in the marketplace. That could constrain competition, threaten our competitiveness and undermine the security of our energy supply. As the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, said, the crucial thing is clarity. In these instances where an NPS cannot be locationally specific we look to provide in the NPS as much guidance as possible to give as much certainty as is possible within all the constraints. Where an NPS does not identify locations as suitable, it will be up to it to provide criteria about suitable locations, which could be based on key physical, environmental and economic conditions, and the impact that might follow from those criteria, and to assess what would be suitable for development of specific types of projects. The NPS will also address the weight given to criteria. Before identifying particular locations as potentially suitable, however, the Secretary of State must go through a careful process of considering the relevant evidence, involving appraisal of sustainability. He or she must also consult on the proposal, crucially with people in the local area, so that people are informed about the policy, understand the local implications, and have a chance to have their views taken account of before an NPS is designated. Clause 7(5) therefore provides that, where locations are identified, the Secretary of State must ensure that appropriate steps are taken to publicise the proposal, and Clause 8 requires him to consult local authorities in the affected areas about that publicity. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, asked whether, when a location-specific NPS has undergone the process, the IPC has any real scope to reject an application. The clear answer is yes, it does. The IPC must balance the national tests with local tests and see how the criteria weigh up. Several tests must be applied and, if the application fails any of these tests, the IPC can refuse consent or, importantly, ensure that mitigating measures are put in place in the final order. First, the application must be consistent with the NPS. Secondly, the application must not contravene any obligation under international or UK law. For example, applications must be consistent with European directives on air quality and noise, the habitats directive, and so on. Thirdly, the application must be in accordance with any matters prescribed in secondary legislation under Clause 101(2)(c). For example, particular types of development might give rise to special considerations by virtue of existing legislation, such as alterations to a listed building. Finally, the IPC must be satisfied that the benefits of the proposal outweigh the impacts. In determining that, the IPC would have specific regard to the local impacts report from affected local authorities that we made provision for in the other place. It is a question of the IPC listening very carefully and weighing technical, social, environmental and economic evidence about the national interest being served in principle by a piece of infrastructure and the local impact. The IPC must mediate between those two sets of considerations. There will be benefits to most local infrastructure projects, and there will be aspects that need mitigation and which will be problematic. It is the job of the IPC to ensure that that debate is properly held at that point. If the application fails any of those tests, the Bill is clear that the application can be turned down. On the second amendment, both the amendments would prevent the identification of a particular statutory undertaker as appropriate to carry out a development. We debated this matter on Monday, and I do not wish to detain the Committee unduly with this issue. I simply reiterate that we wish to retain the ability to identify certain developers, such as the Highways Agency or Network Rail, where that would be appropriate, and avoid the unwanted consequence that responsibility for any blight caused by the NPS would fall on the Secretary of State, rather than on the statutory undertaker who would provide the infrastructure and would therefore be expected to purchase the land in due course. It is an important area of the Bill. I hope that noble Lords are reassured by my response. This was a useful debate, and I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.