National Planning Policy Framework

Debate between Lord Sharma and Greg Clark

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Alok Sharma) and then make some progress.

[Alok Sharma (Reading West) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for everything that he is saying about delivering localism in planning, for which those of us on the Government Benches have campaigned over many years. We are therefore pleased to see it happening. However, does my right hon. Friend agree that the reason we have to make such fundamental changes is that the system we inherited was not fit for purpose? The top-down approach did not work, which is why we did not have the sustainable development that we should have had during the 13 years of the Labour Government.

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is right, and that is now a shared view. As I have said, the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne has said that. Indeed, in our conversations about the Localism Bill, the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey), whom I congratulate on his promotion, also recognised that the regional approach would go and not come back. It has not worked for the reasons that I have mentioned: it sets people against the planning system.