Labour plans to shake up planning rules by consulting on whether to limit the number of quangos who have been blamed for delaying developments.
Ministers will review whether to remove official bodies like Sport England, the Theatres Trust and the Garden History Society from the list of those legally required to be consulted on decisions.
However, Labour has come under fire for running a ‘government by talking shop’ after it launched at least 67 reviews, consultations and taskforces in the first few months of taking power.
Planning reforms will require that councils only consult quangos when it is necessary to do so, and decisions should not be delayed beyond the standard 21-day deadline.
The scope of other official bodies will be narrowed to focus on heritage, safety and environmental protection, ministers have said.
However, Sam Richards, the chief executive of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, pointed out the ‘irony’ of deciding to remove consultees by launching yet another consultation.
‘The government is absolutely right to reduce the number of statutory consultees, and refocus the scope of their work,’ he said.
‘Too many had become policy campaigners within the government machine – in the process slowing down the building we desperately need.’
Ministers are planning to introduce reforms to the planning system by reducing the number of bodies that need to be consulted for applications (file photo)
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook (pictured) said the Government was removing statutory consultees that aren’t ‘contributing signficantly’ to outcomes
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, said that reforms to the planning system would prevent ‘unintended delays’ to projects.
She cited a case where 140 flats next to a cricket club were blocked because Sport England said the speed of flying cricket balls had not been properly considered.
Housing and planning minister Alex Norris said that the more than two dozen organisations which have to be consulted on planning applications are ‘providing a bit of a bottleneck’.
He also said that they often did not respond within deadlines, but would not comment on whether they would be fined.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook told the Daily Mail: ‘We’ve removed a number of statutory consultees that we don’t think really are contributing significantly to the outcomes we want to drive in the system.’
He said that while they were an ‘important part of the planning process’ the system was ‘not working effectively at present’.
Ministers will introduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to Parliament today as part of the agenda to get Britain building (file photo)
He added that he would look at ‘potentially removing other more minor statutory consultees from the system altogether’.
It came after the Government announced that people who live near new pylons will get hundreds of pounds off their annual energy bills under plans to boost support for building infrastructure.
Ministers will introduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to Parliament on Tuesday as part of the agenda to get Britain building.
It will also announce plans to restrict the amount of money given to landowners whose properties are bought by compulsory purchase orders, which could put farmers at risk.
