Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Berkeley and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Berkeley]

Before the noble Lord sits down, I asked him whether he had any evidence of consultation or anything else on this balance between fairness to the affected people and the need to remove the barriers to growth and the desirability of avoiding delays in respect of nationally significant infrastructure projects. If he has, it would be good for us to have it—if not now, then before Third Reading.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

If I may, I will write to the noble Lord about that.

[Lord Berkeley]

I am grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive answer. I shall certainly need to read very carefully what he said. I was pleased with some of his comments; the Government have moved a bit on this. Whether they moved enough for what I believe is right, I shall see when I read the debate. I am still surprised that the Environment Agency, in particular, would not be satisfied with a structure that was apparently successfully adopted for the London Gateway. I am grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive response and beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Berkeley and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for tabling Amendment 46C and for presenting the case for it and Amendment 46D. In responding to these amendments, I will try not to repeat in detail the arguments that I made against them in Committee but I think it would be helpful if I said a few words about each of them in turn.

The new clause proposed by Amendment 46C sets out a proposal for hearings during the pre-application phase of the infrastructure planning process. As I hope I made clear in Committee, the Planning Inspectorate already offers a pre-application service to developers which can include regular meetings with developers and other interested bodies to discuss the project. I therefore regret that the Government are not convinced by the arguments that formal hearings, even where paid for by developers, are also needed.

I turn now to the question of waivers, as proposed in Amendment 46D. I have noted that the amendment has been somewhat constrained since Committee and now applies specifically to documents that are required to be submitted with an application for development consent. The Government have previously responded to this and, while recognising that this is more focused, we again remain unconvinced that a formal process is needed to achieve what the noble Lord is intending and seeking on behalf of infrastructure developers. Furthermore, the process could potentially undermine the certainty and transparency of the regime. Following changes made to the Planning Act 2008 by the Localism Act 2011, the Secretary of State already has discretion to accept an application that does not fully comply with many of the detailed documentation requirements under the Planning Act, provided that the application is,

“of a standard that the Secretary of State considers satisfactory”.

Based on that explanation, I hope the noble Lord will be minded to withdraw the amendment.

[Lord Berkeley]

I am grateful to the Minister for that response. I am disappointed in what he said but I shall study his response carefully. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Berkeley and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 4th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

As I mentioned earlier, we have already said that there are specific fees which are charged for specific projects, so if a single inspectorate is being asked to look at that, that will be clear in the fee structure. Similarly, if there is a bigger application where a range of inspectors are involved, that will also be transparent. I also highlighted the issue of the day rate, which I mentioned earlier in my speech. In effect, all we are doing is highlighting the issue of transparency, which was mentioned earlier. The statutory instrument will address that point: it will outline the Government’s policy clearly. Again, I refer the noble Lord to what I said earlier about day rates also being charged as part of this policy.

[Lord Berkeley]

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way, but I seek further clarification on that. Will this statutory instrument clarify whether an inspector can charge two separate applicants for a day rate on the same day? Obviously, it is right that the applicants should pay the cost, but it would be wrong if two were paying the same costs on the same day for the same inspector. Let us hope that the statutory instrument would cover that as well, because I think that would be equitable.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I am sure that the noble Lord understands that I myself have yet to see the statutory instrument. I am sure that it will provide the clarity that he has requested. As it is published, it will be apparent to noble Lords, and I will take up the specific point that he has raised with my honourable friend.

The second part of Amendment 75ZAA addresses national policy statements. While I am afraid I will not be able to accept this amendment, I share noble Lords’ view that they are an important element of the nationally significant infrastructure regime. They provide the policy and decision-making frameworks for nationally significant infrastructure, giving certainty to developers by making clear the Government’s policy on different forms of infrastructure, helping to speed up the examination phase and guiding the decision-maker on the approach that should be taken on the main issues. Therefore, they remain central to the Government’s planning reforms, because they provide clarity of policy and predictability, as noble Lords have mentioned, for those wishing to invest in new infrastructure.

I assure noble Lords that there is no question of the Government moving away from their commitment to national policy statements as the bedrock of the nationally significant infrastructure regime. Thus far, the Government have designated the national policy statements on energy, ports, and waste water. We hope to designate the hazardous waste national policy statement in spring 2013.

As the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, pointed out, the Department for Transport has currently put on hold the roads and rail national policy statement to concentrate on other priorities, specifically the roads strategy, which will be published later in spring, and to support the work of the independent airports commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies. The Department for Communities and Local Government continues to work closely with colleagues in the Department for Transport to work towards roads and rail and aviation national policy statements in future.

I have been asked for a definition of “imminent”. I regret to say that my definition may not tie in with the noble Lord’s, and I hope that it is not envisaged in the way that he expressed. Nevertheless, I hope that I have underlined that the issue of national policy statements has been raised centrally. I am sure that our colleagues across government will follow the debate with keen interest.

The Government are also currently considering consultation responses on the question of whether to put in place a national policy statement or statements for proposed new business and commercial categories of development, and this is a subject we will come to later in the debate.

Therefore, I am afraid that I cannot accept this amendment, which would impose an obligation to publish all national policy statements by 31 March 2015 and to lay before Parliament, on or before 31 March 2014, a report explaining to Parliament what has been done and what will in future be done to comply with that requirement. The reasons are quite simple. I am sure that it is appreciated that much of this work taken forward cuts across the work of several departments, such as the Department for Transport on the transport strategy and the Davies commission on aviation, which is due to report in summer 2015. The aviation commission’s terms of reference make it clear that:

“As part of its final report in summer 2015, it should also provide materials, based on this detailed analysis, which will support the Government in preparing a national policy statement to accelerate the resolution of any future planning applications for major airports infrastructure”.

I understand the concerns raised about the potential impact of there not being a national policy statement in the meantime, but it is clear that the nationally significant infrastructure regime can operate effectively and quickly without the need for a national policy statement, as we have seen, for example, with the decision on the Ipswich rail chord.

I turn to the issues raised around pre-application oversight by the Planning Inspectorate—

[Lord Berkeley]

I am grateful to the Minister. I thought that he might welcome a short rest during his very long speech, which is very interesting; he apologised for it, but it is no longer than our introductory speeches. Before we leave this subject of national policy statements, I also have an interest in the fracking debate. The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, asked whether there would be a national policy statement on fracking. Dare we ask when this might come, if it does?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

We shall write to all noble Lords concerned.

[Lord Berkeley]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this very long debate. Perhaps we should, in future, reflect whether amendments should be cut into bite-sized pieces to make it easier.

I am particularly grateful to my noble friend Lord Snape who reminded me about Crossrail which I had, of course, forgotten. The Minister was right that there was lots of regulation about environmentally friendly transport on that particular issue. However, I do not see why something the size of the Thames Tideway tunnel, which claims to be complying with all the latest regulations, can be using road transport for all the spoil when there is a river there. We can explore that in the future. With so many different issues having been discussed and responded to, I will need to read the Minister’s response, for which I am very grateful, very carefully. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Berkeley and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 4th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Berkeley]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, invited me to speak to my amendment, which was very kind of him. The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, gave a very good description of it, which I do not need to repeat, but there are a couple of issues on which we ought to reflect. First, the special parliamentary procedure, which my noble friend Lord Faulkner described at Second Reading and again today, is to my mind a second attempt to oppose planning permission if you fail on the first occasion. Is that worth having and, if so, what exceptions or types of development should be included? There is also the question of the scope of the SPP. I believe that it can be very wide: for example, looking at a complete planning application again; or it could be narrowed to apply to just the particular issue that is under consideration.

I found a very interesting example of this recently on Humberside where the established port operator there, Associated British Ports, got into a bit of debate with a new company, which I think was trying to develop a port complex next door for offshore windmills or something or other. A railway line runs through the middle of the proposed development which the developer was trying to purchase so that he could install level crossings rather than having the cost of a bridge. The detail does not really matter but the issue comes back to the fact that if you are opposed to a proposed development, the SPP gives you a second round of attack, if you like, in putting your case. If you want it to go forward as quickly as possible, you will argue that the consent order process is perfectly valid and, if you do not like the outcome, I suppose that you can go for judicial review.

I also worry when my noble friend Lord Faulkner says that there have been only two or three of these cases in the past goodness knows how long, because once people discover that there is this rather arcane procedure, a lot of people might try to use it. That is not a reason for not having it but it is a reason for considering whether one needs it, the scope it should have and how long it should last. I have tabled my amendment in conjunction with the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, to test the waters and probe. We have had a good debate and it will be interesting to hear what the Minister has to say in response.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords for the amendments they have tabled, in particular the noble Lords, Lord Greenway, Lord Jenkin and Lord Berkeley, for setting out their proposed amendments to Clause 22. Questions have been raised about the Government’s position in putting forward Clause 22. It may be helpful if I first set out the issues that the Government are trying to address through this clause.

Clause 22 amends the provisions in the Planning Act 2008 which set out when special parliamentary procedure will apply to a development consent order which authorises the acquisition of specially protected land. It also repeals the separate certification process required in certain cases. The Planning Act 2008 brought together a range of different consent regimes for nationally significant infrastructure into a single development consent order. The overall aim of this regime is to provide a more efficient and quicker consenting regime for very large infrastructure projects. Development consent orders can include authorisation for the compulsory acquisition of land, but when certain categories of specially protected land are acquired, special parliamentary procedure can be triggered. The decision by the Secretary of State that such land is to be compulsorily acquired is then transferred to a Joint Committee of Parliament for confirmation. While the special parliamentary procedure is undertaken, the development consent cannot come into effect and work on the infrastructure project cannot start.

The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, talked about the reasoning behind such measures. Delays to infrastructure projects can have a significant knock-on impact in delaying benefits to the local and, indeed, national economy. In the case to which the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, referred—the Rookery South project in which he was involved—the special parliamentary procedure was triggered for an infrastructure project under the Planning Act. The special parliamentary procedure added more than a year to the consent process. I understand that during this period no work was possible on the project, delaying the creation of up to 300 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs that would have resulted when the project was up and running.