Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014

Debate between Baroness Parminter and Lord McKenzie of Luton

Monday 10th February 2014 Grand Committee

[Baroness Parminter (LD)]

As the noble Lord, Lord Bichard, said, there are not many people here, but this issue is incredibly topical, particularly given that Cuadrilla announced last week that it intends to apply for planning permission for two new sites in Lancashire for fracking. As the noble Lord mentioned, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee considered this statutory instrument alongside another one, which would amend the requirements for applicants to notify owners and tenants of land individually of applications for such development. I shall not repeat the apposite and pertinent comments that the noble Lord has made—I echo them entirely—but shall pick up on one of them and make one further, final remark.

As he said, the Government failed to publish a detailed analysis of the consultation when they laid these instruments before Parliament. That reluctance is probably understandable when we look in detail at that analysis. As the noble Lord said, only seven of those responses were in favour, with 155 against. That is really important, and not just in terms of how we take forward the issue of fracking; it is about how we have a process for planning that involves the local community. The broader principles of what planning is for were debated at length by many of us in this House in the context of the Localism Bill and the National Planning Policy Framework. It is to be deeply regretted that the views then expressed about what the purpose of the planning system should be—it is about balancing the competing demands to achieve truly sustainable development for our country—appear not to have been heeded.

I am particularly grateful to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee for highlighting the shortcomings in the Government’s procedure on this matter. It highlighted to those of us in this House who care deeply about ensuring that we have a fair planning process that we will have to watch developments even more closely in future. Again, this is particularly topical, given that it is likely that there will be announcements in Europe this month about the future of GM crops. It will be interesting to note what the department might be planning for in terms of applications in that new area of development.

[Lord McKenzie of Luton (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations. As we have heard, they are concerned with planning arrangements for onshore operations for the winning and working of oil or natural gas, including exploration drilling. Onshore oil and gas activities are of course not new to the UK, but the more recent development of hydraulic fracturing or fracking is contentious and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, said, certainly topical.

The Government sought to address the regulatory regime for onshore oil and gas in the publication of planning practice guidance in 2013. At that time, they indicated that proposals would be brought forward to address issues relating to the application process and the level of fees payable to local planning authorities.

The first of these was the subject of a negative instrument that was slipped through Parliament over the Christmas period, giving, as we have heard, scant opportunity for debate; the second is the one that is before us today. So far as process is concerned, the department has been justifiably criticised by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee for laying these instruments without proper impact assessments and a proper analysis of the related consultation exercise, which itself attracted criticism for being over just a six-week period. The noble Lord, Lord Bichard, thoroughly expressed the concerns of that committee. Indeed, we share those concerns. Why does the department continue to get these matters so horribly wrong, showing scant respect for Parliament, as the noble Lord said? This is probably not the occasion to enter into a full-scale debate about future energy policy and energy security, but we are clear that gas has a role to play in the future balanced energy mix, along with renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage. Within that, there is a prospect for shale gas, but with a precautionary approach that needs to address legitimate environmental concerns.

The instrument before us today, which came into effect in January, represents easements for the extraction industry, although perhaps modest ones. These appear to go against the grain of the September 2013 consultation exercise, although the Government’s response does not provide us with details, numbers or percentages of those supporting or opposing the three broad propositions that were canvassed, including the third one, which is the standard application form. Please can these be provided to us?

Specifically, this instrument addresses how planning fees are calculated when there are drilling activities both above and below ground. This is pertinent because activity below the surface will take place horizontally as well as vertically, thereby spreading out much wider than the surface area. It is asserted that the basis of fees for oil and gas applications has long been intended to be related to the area of the surface works only, and that what is before us is a clarification to achieve that objective. That clarification comes with a general 10% fee uplift for all oil and gas applications, which was apparently offered by the offshore industry. Perhaps the Minister could clarify the basis of that calculation and how it relates to the costs that local planning authorities are likely to incur in dealing with applications. Was 10% the industry’s first offer, and what was the range of the negotiations that might have ensued?

The Minister in another place suggested that statutory planning functions are financed from a combination of fees, government grant and locally raised revenue. Indeed, the Minister reiterated that this afternoon. Perhaps she can advise us as to what grants are involved and the future trajectory of grant levels. The Minister in the other place told the Seventh Delegated Legislation Committee:

“Statutory planning functions are not only financed through the fees set, but subsidised by Government grant and locally raised revenue. Our approach to setting fees in England is that they are set nationally and grouped into broad categories such as housing, business and commercial, and onshore oil and gas, approximating to the amount of work involved. The fee is based on the average cost of determination across all local authorities in England. The principle underlying the planning fee regime is that would-be applicants should meet the majority of the costs incurred by planning authorities in determining planning applications”.—[Official Report, Commons, Seventh Delegated Legislation Committee, 5/2/14; cols. 3-4.]

Given the relatively small number of mineral planning authorities it is estimated might be involved in fracking applications, what work has been done to evaluate whether the average for oil and gas applications is appropriate?

The Explanatory Note sets out the government view that planning authorities should concentrate mainly—not exclusively—on the surface impacts of onshore oil and gas development and rely more on the regulatory regimes to manage sub-surface issues. Can the Minister give us some information on the necessary involvement of planning authorities in the non-surface impacts and on how this differs between applications involving hydraulic fracturing and those involving other onshore oil and gas applications, whether concerning exploration, appraisal or production?

Thus far the Government have not been convincing on how they have brought forward these proposals or how they have arrived at the new fee levels. Of course, there are much bigger issues around energy policy, hydraulic fracturing and how communities should be involved and share in the benefits of other developments, but consideration of these matters is not helped when relatively small issues such as this are not dealt with effectively and openly.