Planning Bill
5:45 pm
Clive Betts (Sheffield, Attercliffe, Labour)
You were answering the question about whether you could take on the work of dealing with this handful of major infrastructure projects. You said, essentially, that your role was different in that you have the Secretary of State above you. You are effectively making recommendations, and ultimately it is the Secretary of State’s decision on the matters that you deal with. Do you ever suggest to Ministers or to senior civil servants that you could have a specialist wing of your inspectorate which would take on this responsibility with no Secretary of State standing above you?