Housing Secretary has today (23 March 2018)
written to 15 local authorities in England to inform them of
decisions on intervention following their continued failure to
produce a local plan, which are key to setting out how and where
they expect to meet residents’ needs for new homes, for more than
a decade.
In November 2017, the
Government confirmed it would commence the consideration of
intervention in 15 local authorities where there has been a
failure to produce a local plan. Local Plans are a key par.t of
the Government’s comprehensive programme of planning reform and
targeted investment to ensure the homes local communities need
are built.
The councils had until 31 January 2018 to explain why they hadn’t
yet published a plan, providing any exceptional circumstances for
why the government shouldn’t intervene.
Following their submission, the Government is now setting out
next steps. Of the 15 local authorities:
• In
Castle Point, Thanet, and Wirral, the Government’s Chief Planner
and a team of experts will be sent in to assess if the Government
needs to take over the process of producing the local plan.
• In
Northumberland the Government has instructed the Council to
produce their plan earlier and to make the timetable clearer.
• In
Basildon, Bolsover, Brentwood, Calderdale, Eastleigh, Mansfield,
St Albans, which have all committed to publishing draft Plans
before the end of September 2018, the Government has made clear
it will monitor their progress and that any further significant
delay to meet this timescale will lead to the case for
intervention being reconsidered.
• Four
local authorities – Liverpool, North East Derbyshire, Runnymede,
York – have since published their plans. Housing Secretary
has written to them to welcome
this progress, but has made clear that should there be any
further significant delays to their timetable to submit the plan,
the Government will not hesitate to act.
The Government has abolished top-down regional planning. But a
locally-led planning system requires elected local
representatives to take the lead, listen to local residents and
business, and set out a clear framework to build new homes,
provide key infrastructure, support the local economy and protect
the environment
Most councils have seized the opportunity that localism presents
– however a small minority have not and do not have a local plan
in place. This can mean uncertainty for local people, have a
negative impact on neighbourhood planning groups, result in
piecemeal speculative housing development and communities having
no plans in place for crucial local infrastructure and services.
Housing Secretary said:
“Whilst most councils rightly recognise their responsibilities
and most have worked hard to meet the housing challenge, some
have failed.
“I expect those authorities we identified in November to continue
to make progress. I’m also stepping it up with three councils in
particular, sending in a team of experts to make a direct
assessment, ensuring they plan properly for the future or we’ll
have to do it for them.”
The Department has also commenced preparations to take over plan
production so that work can begin as soon as possible, subject to
decisions taken after the Chief Planner and his experts report
back. A procurement process is currently underway to secure
planning consultants and specialists who will swiftly undertake
the work on plan production should these councils not comply in
the time required.
The Department will also make contact with County Councils and
combined authorities in the areas concerned about the possibility
of inviting those authorities to write plans.
ENDS
Notes for editors
Letters set to the relevant local authorities can be found online
at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-plan-intervention-letters-to-councils
The Housing White Paper set out how the Government would
prioritise intervention – where:
• the
least progress in plan-making has been made
• policies
in plans had not been kept up to date
• there
was higher housing pressure; and
• intervention
would have the greatest impact in accelerating Local Plan
production
The strategy also made clear that decisions on intervention will
also be informed by the wider planning context in each area
(specifically, the extent to which authorities are working
cooperatively to put strategic plans in place, and the potential
impact that not having a plan has on neighbourhood planning
activity).
Planning experts - Castle Point, Thanet, and Wirral
The Government’s Chief Planner, Steve Quartermain CBE and a team
of experts will report back to the Secretary of State who will
then take a final decision on formal intervention later this
year. In addition, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local
Government will conduct formal discussions with relevant county
councils and city regions to see if they could take over plan
production on the Secretary of State’s behalf.
