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Planning Bill

My Lords, I add a word of congratulation to the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, and the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, on how they have pursued this. Of course, our main congratulations go to the Minister. I hope that I will not be thought to be a little niggardly in saying that, in contrast to the response on the issue of the commons law last week, when the Minister was very positive and said that she would look at it quickly and come back with proposals, as indeed she has—I and commons campaigners in other parts of the country respect and are delighted by that—she was a bit negative on this issue last week. Looking at Hansard, on Report, she was uncharacteristically truculent on design, even suggesting that it was quite impossible to put something in the Bill because there was no time to consult. I pay tribute to the Minister for the speed with which she and her team in the department have managed to come up with something in the Bill that meets many of our concerns. As a relative newcomer to your Lordships’ House—I have been here only three and half years; until you have been here 33 years you are not regarded as a native—I have seen how the Minister and her team have responded with meticulous efficiency to issues in the House, and by correspondence with many of us involved in the passage of the Bill. That is in sharp contrast to my experience on the Front Bench in the other place over 14 years, when Ministers did not think it necessary to explain and persuade. That is to the credit of this House, and to the Minister and her team. The elegant U-turn that the Minister has undertaken over the past few days is to her personal credit and that of her team in the department. The result is a great step forward. I say to her and to other Members of your Lordships’ House who have made this such an important part of our discussions on planning that it is a pity that we did not have this requirement clearly in previous legislation—notably the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, to which it has now been added. It is a great step forward, and I am sure that it will be recognised as such outwith this House.