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The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendment No. 120 proposes a new clause which states that wherever the Secretary of State exercises any of his powers or duties under Parts 1 to 3 of the Bill, he should publish his reasons. If it is important for a local planning authority to publish reasons, it is even more important for the Secretary of State to do so. The Secretary of State is significantly further removed than the local planning authority from those who would be affected by a decision. Hence, the need is greater still for the publication of any decision that he makes. That would allow some insight into the factors that have led to a certain decision being taken. Where there is a grievance, publishing reasons would open the door to discovering whether the grievance was well founded.
Throughout discussions of the Bill, we have made it very clear that we regard planning as a matter for local authorities, which would have the experience and local knowledge to take decisions on those matters. In particular, regional functions, local development and development, covered by Parts 1 to 3 of the Bill, are areas where surely local discretion is a better way forward than excessive involvement by the Secretary of State.
While we appreciate that there may be circumstances where the Secretary of State has a role and should exercise his powers, in the interests of transparency it would be beneficial for him to give his reasons in circumstances where he exercises those powers under Parts 1 to 3 of the Bill. I beg to move.
Lord Rooker: My Lords, in earlier debates, particularly in Committee, we made it clear that our approach throughout Parts 1 and 2 is that for the more significant substantive powers of the Secretary of State it is right to place a duty in the Bill to give reasons when he proposes changes to draft revisions of, for example, regional spatial strategies. It is appropriate that they should be in the Bill because they are very substantive powers.
A requirement for the Secretary of State to provide reasons for the exercise of any and every power in the first 39 clauses is not consistent with our approach. It would not be sensible or practical. Nevertheless, as I indicated in Committee and earlier discussions, we want to ensure that the Bill fully reflects our policy of giving reasons. Work is under way on that issue at present. We expect rather than hope to bring forward amendments at Third Reading. I therefore hope that that will satisfy the noble Baroness.
Parts 1 and 2 are one issue, but the amendment also extends to Part 3. That is a matter which, currently, we are considering. I therefore hope that the noble Baroness does not press us again. A reminder was useful: but we are working on it and, it is to be hoped, we will come back at Third Reading with an amendment that will find favour because it goes to the heart of the issue. As much as possible, whatever the decision, we want the Secretary of State to give reasons so that people understand what has happened.
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I am extremely grateful for that reply. In his wisdom, I hope that the
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Lord Lucas moved Amendment No. 121:
The noble Lord said: My Lords, first, I apologise on behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Rogers, who is in Shanghai. Perhaps he is recruiting some more town planners for the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. I know that he would like to be here, and I shall make an inadequate substitute. Therefore, I shall not take long.
By and large, all my arguments were made in Committee where I was pleased to receive support from the Minister. I have been pleased by what he has said since. I think that I have even detected the Deputy Prime Minister saying some helpful things in the newspaper. So I am very optimistic that, if not today, at Third Reading we shall get something that will address the problem: that something is put in legislation to give local authorities the ability to withstand some extremely large and powerful contractors, and dare say to them, "No, take this away. Make it better". That is the position that we all want to achieve. I have great faith that that is what we will see.
I suppose that in a different system where there was a free market in housing and housing supply was occasionally greater than demand, which has not been the situation for a long time, developers might compete on the basis of good design. Under the current situation, there is no hope of that. We are operating in a shortage situation and always will be controlled by planning. I suspect that there will always be something of a shortage, particularly in some kinds of housing. Therefore, it is very important that design is in our system to control what housing is produced. It needs to be there in a way that gives local authorities the ability to stand up for it in what can be extremely difficult arguments, as many noble Lords said in
Baroness Maddock: My Lords, as in Committee, I support the noble Lords, Lord Lucas and Lord Rogers, in highlighting the importance of design in the new planning process. Since our previous debate I have had the opportunity to look at the Consultation Paper on Planning Policy Statement 1. There are many things with which I agree in paragraph 1.27 headed, "Sustainable Development and Design". Earlier, I spoke about sustainability and, in particular, energy.
I especially agree that quality design,
I also agree with the statement:
One of the things I feel sorry about is that in many local authorities design is not high enough on the agenda when considering developments. In other areas we see that despite the difficulties one faces when one tries to improve the design of a planning application, some local authorities manage it well. That can be seen by going around.
In another guise I was the Member of Parliament for Christchurch for some years and I admired the way the local planners had vision about how they wanted the town to be. In planning applications they involved local architects in creating a good quality of design in the buildings. Yet I have been to other places where it is obvious that no one could care less about their environment.
Over the years, having spent a great deal of time living in and visiting Scandinavia, I have become convinced that the majority of people's well-being is affected—not all people; I have made the point before that some people see nothing around them—by their surroundings. They certainly contribute to my sense of well-being. Many years ago I stayed in an awful bed and breakfast while in Cambridge visiting my first husband when he was a student. It was a dark place with a horribly dark bathroom, and I felt miserable when I stayed there.
In proposing the importance of design in the planning system, none of us thinks that particular architectural styles must be imposed. That is not what it is about; and I am sure the Government do not think that is what it is about. The places that we find attractive and that have endured over the years are usually those that have been well designed and planned. I can think of two that I mentioned on the
I picked up some of the Minister's earlier comments that it is to be hoped that at the next stage the Government will come forward with something that will satisfy our desire to see design become an important part of the planning process, not just in some of the best authorities but everywhere.
"REASONS FOR EXERCISE OF POWERS BY SECRETARY OF STATE
The Secretary of State must provide reasons for the exercise by him of any of his powers or duties under Parts 1 to 3 of this Act."
After Clause 39, insert the following new clause—
"HIGH QUALITY DESIGN
(1) This section applies to any person who, or body which, exercises any function—
(a) under Part 1 in relation to a regional spatial strategy;
(b) under Part 2 in relation to local development documents;
(c) under Part 6 in relation to the Wales Spatial Plan or a local development plan.
(2) The person or body must exercise the function with a view to contributing to the achievement of high quality design in the built environment.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the person or body must have regard to national policies and advice contained in guidance issued or prescribed by—
(a) the Secretary of State for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) and (b);
(b) the National Assembly for Wales for the purposes of subsection (1)(c)."
"is a key element in achieving sustainable development",
and that,
"Good design is not just about the architecture".
We have touched on other issues today. The consultation paper states that good design is about functionality and the impact of a building,
"on the overall character, quality and sustainability of an area including resource efficiency (for example energy consumption).
For me, that is a very wide area.
"There should be no acceptance of ill-conceived designs which do not contribute positively to making places better for people",
which was an underlying theme in our last discussion.
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