Planning Act 2008

Part 1 — Infrastructure planning: fees

Rail freight interchanges

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Code of conduct

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Charging schedule: effect

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Fees

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• (1) The Secretary of State may make regulations providing for the charging of fees by the Secretary of State in connection with the performance of any of the Secretary of State's major-infrastructure functions.

• (2) Regulations under subsection (1) may in particular make provision—

• (a) about when a fee (including a supplementary fee) may, and may not, be charged;

• (b) about the amount which may be charged;

• (c) about what may, and may not, be taken into account in calculating the amount charged;

• (d) about who is liable to pay a fee charged;

• (e) about when a fee charged is payable;

• (f) about the recovery of fees charged;

• (g) about waiver, reduction or repayment of fees;

• (h) about the effect of paying or failing to pay fees charged;

• (i) for the supply of information for any purpose of the regulations.

• (3) The regulations may provide for the amounts of fees to be calculated by reference to costs incurred by the Secretary of State—

• (a) in the performance of any of the Secretary of State's major-infrastructure functions, and

• (b) in doing anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the performance of any of the Secretary of State's major-infrastructure functions.

• (4) In this section “the Secretary of State's major-infrastructure functions” means—

• (a) the Secretary of State's functions under Parts 2 to 8 and under Part 12 so far as applying for the purposes of those Parts,

• (b) the giving of advice to which section 51 applies, and

• (c) the Secretary of State's functions, in relation to proposed applications for orders granting development consent, under statutory provisions implementing—

• (i) Council Directive 85/337/ EC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended from time to time, or

• (ii) provisions of an EU instrument which from time to time replace provisions of that Directive.

• (5) In subsection (4)(c) “statutory provision” means a provision of an Act or of an instrument made under an Act.

Part 2 — National policy statements

National policy statements

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• (1) The Secretary of State may designate a statement as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act if the statement—

• (a) is issued by the Secretary of State, and

• (b) sets out national policy in relation to one or more specified descriptions of development.

• (2) In this Act “national policy statement” means a statement designated under subsection (1) as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act.

• (3) Before designating a statement as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act the Secretary of State must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the policy set out in the statement.

• (4) A statement may be designated as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act only if the consultation and publicity requirements set out in section 7, and the parliamentary requirements set out in section 9, have been complied with in relation to it and—

• (a) the consideration period for the statement has expired without the House of Commons resolving during that period that the statement should not be proceeded with, or

• (b) the statement has been approved by resolution of the House of Commons—

• (i) after being laid before Parliament under section 9(8), and

• (ii) before the end of the consideration period.

• (4A) In subsection (4) “the consideration period”, in relation to a statement, means the period of 21 sitting days beginning with the first sitting day after the day on which the statement is laid before Parliament under section 9(8), and here “sitting day” means a day on which the House of Commons sits.

• (5) The policy set out in a national policy statement may in particular—

• (a) set out, in relation to a specified description of development, the amount, type or size of development of that description which is appropriate nationally or for a specified area;

• (b) set out criteria to be applied in deciding whether a location is suitable (or potentially suitable) for a specified description of development;

• (c) set out the relative weight to be given to specified criteria;

• (d) identify one or more locations as suitable (or potentially suitable) or unsuitable for a specified description of development;

• (e) identify one or more statutory undertakers as appropriate persons to carry out a specified description of development;

• (f) set out circumstances in which it is appropriate for a specified type of action to be taken to mitigate the impact of a specified description of development.

• (6) If a national policy statement sets out policy in relation to a particular description of development, the statement must set out criteria to be taken into account in the design of that description of development.

• (7) A national policy statement must give reasons for the policy set out in the statement.

• (8) The reasons must (in particular) include an explanation of how the policy set out in the statement takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

• (9) The Secretary of State must—

• (a) arrange for the publication of a national policy statement, ...

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (10) In this section “statutory undertakers” means persons who are, or are deemed to be, statutory undertakers for the purposes of any provision of Part 11 of TCPA 1990.

Review

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• (1) The Secretary of State—

• (a) must review each national policy statement whenever the Secretary of State thinks it appropriate to do so, and

• (b) in any event, must carry out a full review of each national policy statement at times that enable the Secretary of State to comply with subsection (5A).

• (2) A review may relate to all or part of a national policy statement , and in this section a “full review” means a single review relating to all of a national policy statement.

• (3) In deciding when to review a national policy statement the Secretary of State must consider whether—

• (a) since the time when the statement was first published or (if later) last reviewed, there has been a significant change in any circumstances on the basis of which any of the policy set out in the statement was decided,

• (b) the change was not anticipated at that time, and

• (c) if the change had been anticipated at that time, any of the policy set out in the statement would have been materially different.

• (4) In deciding when to review part of a national policy statement (“the relevant part”) the Secretary of State must consider whether—

• (a) since the time when the relevant part was first published or (if later) last reviewed, there has been a significant change in any circumstances on the basis of which any of the policy set out in the relevant part was decided,

• (b) the change was not anticipated at that time, and

• (c) if the change had been anticipated at that time, any of the policy set out in the relevant part would have been materially different.

• (4A) Whenever the Secretary of State decides to review a national policy statement, the Secretary of State must lay a statement before Parliament announcing the review.

• (5) After completing a review of all or part of a national policy statement the Secretary of State must do one of the following—

• (a) amend the statement;

• (b) withdraw the statement's designation as a national policy statement;

• (c) leave the statement as it is.

• (5A) But, unless and until a statement’s designation as a national policy statement is withdrawn—

• (a) the Secretary of State must amend each national policy statement within the initial period (see section 6ZA), and

• (b) the Secretary of State must subsequently amend each national policy statement at intervals of no more than five years.

• (5B) An amendment of a national policy statement counts for the purposes of subsection (5A) only if the amendment arises from a full review of the statement.

• (5C) An amendment of a national policy statement that is required by subsection (5A) to be made by a certain time may be delayed beyond that time only if and for so long as exceptional circumstances exist which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, make the delay unavoidable.

• (5D) In that case the Secretary of State must, before the deadline for amending the national policy statement, lay a statement before Parliament explaining the reasons for the extension and stating when the Secretary of State expects to amend the national policy statement.

• (6) Before amending a national policy statement the Secretary of State must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the policy set out in the proposed amendment.

• (7) The Secretary of State may amend a national policy statement only if the consultation and publicity requirements set out in section 7, and the parliamentary requirements set out in section 9, have been complied with in relation to the proposed amendment and—

• (a) the consideration period for the amendment has expired without the House of Commons resolving during that period that the amendment should not be proceeded with, or

• (b) the amendment has been approved by resolution of the House of Commons—

• (i) after being laid before Parliament ..., and

• (ii) before the end of the consideration period.

• (7A) In subsection (7) “the consideration period”, in relation to an amendment, means the period of 21 sitting days beginning with the first sitting day after the day on which the amendment is laid before Parliament ..., and here “sitting day” means a day on which the House of Commons sits.

• (8) Subsections (6) to (7A) do not apply if the Secretary of State thinks that the proposed amendment (taken with any other proposed amendments) does not materially affect the policy as set out in the national policy statement.

• (9) If the Secretary of State amends a national policy statement, the Secretary of State must—

• (a) arrange for the amendment, or the statement as amended, to be published, and

• (b) lay the amendment, or the statement as amended, before Parliament.

• (10) In subsections (7)(b)(i) and (7A), references to an amendment being laid before Parliament are references to—

• (a) in the case of an amendment that is, or is included in, a proposal to which subsections (4) to (8) of section 9 do not apply (see section 9(8A)), the amendment being laid under section 9(2);

• (b) in any other case, the amendment being laid under section 9(8).

Consultation and publicity

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• (1) This section sets out the consultation and publicity requirements referred to in sections 5(4) and 6(7).

• (2) The Secretary of State must carry out such consultation, and arrange for such publicity, as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate in relation to the proposal.

This is subject to subsections (4) and (5).

• (3) In this section “the proposal” means—

• (a) the statement that the Secretary of State proposes to designate as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act, or

• (b) (as the case may be) the proposed amendment.

• (4) The Secretary of State must consult such persons, and such descriptions of persons, as may be prescribed.

• (5) If the policy set out in the proposal identifies one or more locations as suitable (or potentially suitable) for a specified description of development, the Secretary of State must ensure that appropriate steps are taken to publicise the proposal.

• (6) The Secretary of State must have regard to the responses to the consultation and publicity in deciding whether to proceed with the proposal.

Consultation on publicity requirements

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• (1) In deciding what steps are appropriate for the purposes of section 7(5), the Secretary of State must consult—

• (a) each local authority that is within subsection (2) , (3) or (3A), and

• (b) the Greater London Authority, if any of the locations concerned is in Greater London.

• (2) A local authority is within this subsection if any of the locations concerned is in the authority's area.

• (3) A local authority (“A”) is within this subsection if—

• (a) any of the locations concerned is in the area of another local authority (“B”),

• (aa) B is a unitary council or a lower-tier district council, and

• (b) any part of the boundary of A's area is also a part of the boundary of B's area.

• (3A) If any of the locations concerned is in the area of an upper-tier county council (“C”), a local authority (“D”) is within this subsection if—

• (a) D is not a lower-tier district council, and

• (b) any part of the boundary of D's area is also part of the boundary of C's area.

• (4) In this section “local authority” means—

• (a) a county council, or district council, in England;

• (b) a London borough council;

• (c) the Common Council of the City of London;

• (d) the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

• (e) a county council, or county borough council, in Wales;

• (f) a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39);

• (g) a National Park authority;

• (h) the Broads Authority.

• (5) In this section—

• “lower-tier district council” means a district council in England for an area for which there is a county council;

• “unitary council” means a local authority that is not an upper-tier county council, a lower-tier district council, a National Park authority or the Broads Authority;

• “upper-tier county council” means a county council in England for each part of whose area there is a district council.

Parliamentary requirements

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• (1) This section sets out the parliamentary requirements referred to in sections 5(4) and 6(7).

• (2) The Secretary of State must lay the proposal before Parliament.

• (3) In this section “the proposal” means—

• (a) the statement that the Secretary of State proposes to designate as a national policy statement for the purposes of this Act, or

• (b) (as the case may be) the proposed amendment.

• (4) Subsection (5) applies if, during the relevant period—

• (a) either House of Parliament makes a resolution with regard to the proposal, or

• (b) a committee of either House of Parliament makes recommendations with regard to the proposal.

• (5) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a statement setting out the Secretary of State's response to the resolution or recommendations.

• (6) The relevant period is the period specified by the Secretary of State in relation to the proposal.

• (7) The Secretary of State must specify the relevant period in relation to the proposal on or before the day on which the proposal is laid before Parliament under subsection (2).

• (8) After the end of the relevant period, but not before the Secretary of State complies with subsection (5) if it applies, the Secretary of State must lay the proposal before Parliament.

• (8A) Subsections (4) to (8) do not apply in relation to the proposal if it—

• (a) is an amendment within subsection (11), or

• (b) consists only of amendments within that subsection.

• (9) If after the laying requirement has been complied with—

• (a) something other than what was laid under the laying requirement becomes the proposal, or

• (b) what was laid under the laying requirement remains the proposal, or again becomes the proposal, despite the condition in section 5(4)(a) or 6(7)(a) not having been met in relation to it,

the laying requirement must be complied with anew.

• (10) For the purposes of subsection (9)(a) and (b) ignore any proposal to correct clerical or typographical errors in what was laid under the laying requirement.

• (11) An amendment is within this subsection if it is an amendment proposed to a national policy statement in order to reflect—

• (a) published Government policy that is relevant to development of a description to which the statement relates,

• (b) the amendment, revocation or repeal of legislation referred to in the statement, or the amendment, revocation, repeal or coming into force of legislation relevant to development of a description to which the statement relates,

• (c) a change (not within paragraph (a) or (b)) to a published document referred to in the statement, or

• (d) a decision of a court in proceedings referred to in section 13 or 118, or other proceedings, so far as relevant to the interpretation of the statement or legislation referred to in the statement.

• (12) In subsection (11), “legislation” means an Act or an instrument made under an Act.

• (13) In this section, “the laying requirement” means—

• (a) if the proposal is one to which subsections (4) to (8) do not apply, subsection (2);

• (b) otherwise, subsection (8).

Sustainable development

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• (1) This section applies to the Secretary of State's functions under sections 5 and 6.