Clause 8 - RSS: further procedure
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
7:00 pm
Mr Matthew Green (Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
The amendment would ensure that the elected regional assembly or, if one is not present, the Secretary of State, gives reasons for disagreeing with the recommendations of the inspector who held the examination in public on the draft revision of the RSS. The elected regional assembly or, if one is not present, the Secretary of State, has the right under the clause to override the recommendations of the inspector who held the examination in public on the draft revision of an RSS, in much the same way in which the Secretary of State has the powers to override a planning inspector's decisions in any inquiry.
The clause requires the Secretary of State to publish any changes that he proposes to make to the draft and his reasons for doing so. However, he is not required to give reasons for his disagreeing with the inspector's recommendations. I assume that the Minister intends that to be included in the Bill. My reading of the clause may be wrong, and it may already be included. If it is not, however, the amendment would tidy up the wording of the clause.
Amendment No. 143 would ensure that any changes to a draft RSS proposed by the elected regional assembly or, if one is not present, the Secretary of State, to which there are objections, may also be reviewed by an examination in public. The Secretary of State can require the draft revision of an RSS to be subject to examination in public. However, there is no equivalent for an examination in public of any changes that the Secretary of State proposes to make to the draft, whether or not an examination in public has been held on it. If the Secretary of State makes substantive changes following changes to the draft, there is no requirement for there to be public consultation on those changes. I am sure that the Minister will say that that is because he has to be reasonable all the time. Frankly, there is no come back here. Essentially the amendment would ensure that members of the public have as much opportunity to be heard on the proposal of the elected regional assembly or the Secretary of State on the draft revision as they will on the regional planning body's initial draft revision.
Amendment No. 144 is designed to ensure that the elected regional assembly or the Secretary of State give their reasons for decisions about the revision of the regional spatial strategy. Clause 8 requires the Secretary of State to publish reasons for any changes that he proposes to make to the draft revision of the RSS. That duty to give reasons should also apply when the Secretary of State publishes the final revision and when he withdraws the draft revision of the RSS. Again, I hope that these amendments clarify the actions of the Secretary of State. I would struggle to imagine that the Minister could disagree with their intention. As usual, I will probably be told that they are entirely unnecessary.