Daniel Rogerson (Shadow Minister (Arts, Culture and Heritage), Culture, Media & Sport; North Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)

I want to return to the issue of the single commissioner and would like to vote on clause stand part.

To delete clause 70 would have a fairly drastic effect on the function of the single commissioner. As far as I can see, single commissioners should not be considering applications of national importance. Having moved away from the issue of democratic accountability, I will not go over again the arguments about whether the infrastructure planning commission is a beneficial part of the Bill, but I will say that if we are going to have such applications considered, it should be done by a group of commissioners rather than a single one.

Jacqui Lait (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Beckenham, Conservative)

I am somewhat torn between both arguments. On balance, however, the practical potential impact of having a single commissioner who is sick or who has to pull back from presiding overrides the argument that the Minister makes for what is a  relatively small application. Evidence was cited to us about the north Yorkshire grid application and substations being held up for many years for all sorts of reasons. Even a small application for a substation would be affected.

We have also been given an example about roundabouts on the A1. It may be no surprise that I, too, am familiar with those roundabouts. I can imagine that any proposal to replace them with whatever might be the right solution at those junctions would be controversial. There is an interesting debate to be had on whether such projects are of national significance and whether it is more appropriate for the IPC or the Planning Inspectorate to deal with them. If such projects are to be classified as projects of national significance, and they are controversial, then however speedy the process could be under the system that we are trying to achieve with our amendments or under the Government’s system, we need more than one commissioner on even the smallest project.

The likely consequence is that although the number of applications might stay the same, the number of applications that the commission can deal with in a year will go down. That backs up the arguments that we have long made that the number of commissioners appointed and the deadlines that are implied will clog up the system and not speed up the decision-making process. I therefore support the objection of the hon. Member for North Cornwall to the clause and will join him in voting against it.