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Planning Bill

My Lords, my noble and learned friend Lord Boyd has made my speech for me. It answers a good number of the points raised by the noble Earl, the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin. Again, I draw the attention of the House to Clause 5 and the provisions of subsection (3) onwards, which would apply in respect of the designation which could take place under Clause 12. As my noble friend said, it would make clear that: "““Before designating a statement … the Secretary of State must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the policy set out in the statement””." It must only be done, under subsection (4), "““if the consultation and publicity requirements set out in section 7, and the parliamentary requirements set out in section 9, have been complied with””," as well as all the provisions set out in subsections (5), (6) and (7). These ensure that the concern the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, still has that there might be a cutting of corners cannot take place. It cannot take place because of the provisions in the Bill. It is not a question of my giving assurances from the Dispatch Box. This will be the law once we accept these amendments. I hope that on that basis the House is reassured. As always when you have constantly to flick between amendments and different provisions on different pages, the problem is to understand their full force. Noble Lords need to read Clause 12 as if all the subsections in Clause 5 continued from subsection (1) of Clause 12. I think in that context the concerns that have been raised are met.