Minister calls for suggestions on simplifying planning framework

The government has called on organisations and individuals to suggest the priorities and policies it should adopt to produce a less bureaucratic national planning policy framework.

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark announced that the government wanted to consolidate around 40 policy statements, circulars and guidance into a single national planning policy framework. These cover planning aspects in relation to climate change, housing, renewable energy, flood risk, Green Belt and waste, and procedural advice such as how to compile development plans.

A further 100 advisory guidance notes – including best practice guides – will also be cut back. “Too much weight is often given to this kind of guidance, especially when many professional bodies produce high quality advisory material that is equal or of more use to users of the planning system,” the Department for Communities and Local Government said.

The DCLG added that “too much unwanted detail has resulted in a system full of contradictions and has acted as a brake on growth, hindering rather than helping local communities to shape development in their neighbourhoods”.

The government wants the new framework to:

• hand power back to local communities to decide what is right for them
• be more user-friendly and accessible, allowing the public to have a meaningful say in planning decisions
• make sure that planning is used as a mechanism for delivering government objectives “only where it is relevant, proportionate and effective to do so”
• establish a presumption in favour of sustainable development.

Clark said: "We have over 1000 pages of policy and guidance that have made the planning system unclear and burdensome. This creates vast amounts of paperwork and bureaucracy that burdens developers and limits the power of local people to shape their neighbourhoods around their vision.

"The new framework will integrate our current suite of policy statements and guidance into a single concise document. It will focus on the government's key priorities for planning and help deliver a more effective, decentralised system."

The minister has also set out a “Work Plan” on major infrastructure planning reform, which will cover issues such as the steps to be taken to abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission.

Clark said the government wanted to make the process more accountable democratically. He insisted that it was committed to making decisions “at least as quickly as the twelve months allowed under the major infrastructure planning regime” and was considering whether it can reduce the timeframe further.

He added that it was also committed to the delivery of national policy statements for new infrastructure.