APPENDIX 2

THE PLANNING AND COMPULSORY PURCHASE BILL

LIST OF GOVERNMENT QUESTIONS RAISED IN THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENTS

The Government has issued the following list of questions with each of the consultation documents.

PPS11 - Regional Planning

1. Paragraphs 1.17 and 1.18 set out the expected format of the regional spatial strategy (RSS). Does this cover the right key points or do you think that there should be changes or additions?

2. Paragraphs 2.8 to 2.10 discuss the relationship between the RSS and other regional strategies and the need to join these up. Do you have any suggestions about ways of securing better integration or other examples of good practice?

3. Chapter 2 and annexes D and E stress the importance of community involvement and partnership working in the RSS preparation process. Is the current balance between procedural policy and guidance right at the moment or does this need changing? In particular:

(i) Paragraph 2.21 and paragraph 8 of annex D requires the RPB to hold a public conference to seek agreement to the issues identified for the review. Should this requirement be retained?

(ii) Paragraph 21 of annex D encourages the RPB to establish a formal group, chaired by someone from outside the RPB or a local authority and with a membership representative of the community, which is consulted at key milestones on the road to the draft RSS revision. Should this guidance be a requirement?

4. Paragraph 2.14 refers to the role that it is anticipated strategic planning authorities may play in leading sub-regional studies. Should we include more on how to make these arrangements effective and if so do you have any suggestions?

5. Paragraph 2.17 lists areas of work where RPBs may wish to enter into partnership arrangements with strategic planning authorities. Do these highlight the right areas of work or should there be changes or additions?

6. Paragraph 2.20 sets out the key features of the project plan for the RSS revision and paragraph 6 of annex D elaborates on this in relation to community involvement. Does the current text adequately describe the features of the project plan or are there others that should be included?

7. Figure 2.1, the diagram of the RSS revision process, sets out a timetable from start to finish of 32 months. Is this in your view about right, too long or too short? If too long, how might we be able to speed the process up further? If too short, where in the process and on what grounds should we allow more time?

8. There is currently no requirement for the draft RSS to be advertised in newspapers (see paragraph 2.31). Should there be? Do you have other suggestions beyond those in paragraph 28 of annex D about how the RPB can best publicise the draft RSS?

9. Paragraph 2.38 sets out the principles that the RPB should consider when determining whether structure plan policies should be saved beyond the normal three year period. Are these the correct ones or should there be any changes or additions?

10. Does paragraph 3.2 adequately describe the content of the annual monitoring report or would further guidance be useful in an annex? If more guidance would be useful what should be included?

11. Do chapters 1, 2 and 3 provide adequate procedural policy advice or are there other areas where we should set out procedural policy. If so, what are these?

12. Are the main aims of a regional transport strategy set out in annex B between paragraphs 3 and 4 and described in more detail at paragraphs 19 to 37 right? If not, what changes or additions should be made?

13. Does this consultation document, and in particular annex B, place sufficient emphasis on the integration of transport and spatial planning at the regional level? If not, what else should be added?

14. Is the guidance on the conduct of examinations in public at annex C sufficiently comprehensive or are there areas where further guidance would be helpful? If so, what are these?

15. Paragraph 20 of annex D draws attention to the importance of involving harder to reach groups and provides advice on how this might be achieved. Views would be welcome on how else these groups might be effectively involved, including whether any of the procedures set out in this PPS should be refined.

16. Should there be any additions to or deletions from the list of bodies at the end of annex D that the RPB may want to consult when preparing an RSS revision?

17. Do you have examples of best practice in partnership working or advice on the principles which should be followed, relevant to annex E?

18. Is the list of proposed national core indicators at annex F correct or should there be any changes or additions?

19. Are there any other comments you would like to make that cannot be accommodated as answers to the questions above?

PPS12 - Local Development Frameworks

1. We propose that local planning authorities should adopt a spatial planning approach to local development frameworks (Chapter 1). Do you agree?

1a. Would you like to see any other information on the scope of local development documents?

2. Chapter 2 sets out the main elements of local development documents - the core strategy; site specific allocations; area action plans; proposals map and supplementary planning documents. Do you agree with the principles set out for each? If you consider that any of these principles give rise to particular problems in preparing local development frameworks, please make suggestions to deal with them.

2a. The core strategy

2b. Site specific allocations

2c. Area action plans

2d. Proposals map

2e. Supplementary planning documents.

3. Chapter 3 sets out the process leading to the preparation of local development documents.

3a. Are the requirements for the statement of community involvement reasonable? Should any requirements be added or removed?

3b. Are the requirements for community involvement in respect of avoiding discrimination (paragraph 3.1.10) sufficiently addressed? If not, what alterations would you suggest?

3c. Does the statement of principles for the local development scheme provide the right level of prescription to enable a firm programme to be prepared for the preparation and adoption of local development documents?

4. Chapter 4 presents the requirements for the preparation of development plan documents and supplementary planning documents. Are the stages set out with sufficient clarity? If not:

4a. What additional requirements need to be considered for development plan documents?

4b. What additional requirements need to be considered for supplementary planning documents?

4c. Are the criteria for the assessment of soundness of the plan (paragraph 4.4.8) comprehensive? Should any considerations be added or removed?

4d. Are the sections on monitoring and review (4.8) comprehensive and clear? If not, what alterations would you suggest?

5. Chapter 5 deals with transitional arrangements. Is this clear? If not, what other information should be provided?

6. Annex A provides definitions. Do you wish to suggest any amendments?

6a. Is the list of suggested components of the proposals map set at the right level? Do you wish to suggest any amendments?

7. Annex B provides advice on other subjects with which local development frameworks will need to relate. Do you have any comments on the content of sections on:

7a. The community strategy?

7b. Resources?

7c. Infrastructure provision and utilities infrastructure?

7d. Transport?

7e. Hazardous substances and air quality?

7f. Are there any omissions to the subjects on which policy needs to be provided in this statement?

8. Annex C provides a list of suggested consultees. Do you have any amendments to suggest?

9. Are there any other matters in relation to the preparation and content of local development frameworks that you would like to see in this statement?

10. Do you have any other comments on this statement?

Local Development Frameworks - Guide to Procedures and Code of Practice

Q1. This document is divided into two main sections - the Guide to Procedures and the Code of Practice. The Guide is intended to give an overview of the local development framework system to those who may wish to know about it or get involved in it, and the Code of Practice is intended to give more specific guidance on each element of the system. Is this a helpful format for the document? If not how should it be changed?

Q2. Are the diagrams helpful and do they provide enough annotation to guide readers to the appropriate text? If not what changes are needed?

The Guide to Procedures

Q3. Is the explanation of the local development framework system in the Guide to Procedures sufficiently clear and understandable? Are all relevant matters covered? If not what changes are needed?

Q4. Is the format of the Guide to Procedures easy to follow and does it provide adequate cross references to the Code of Practice? If not what changes are needed?

Q5. Paragraph 1.6 explains what the new development plan will comprise. Is this sufficiently comprehensive and clear? If not what is missing and what needs to be explained more clearly?

The Code of Practice

Q6. Does the format of the Code of Practice make it easy to find the section which sets out the guidance required? If not how should it be improved?

Q7. Section A of the code sets out what the local development scheme will include, how the LPA will publicise it and what it means to the local community. Does the guidance give sufficient information about the local development scheme? If not what changes are needed?

Q8. Section B of the code explains the purpose and content of the statement of community involvement (SCI) and how it will be prepared. Is the guidance on statements of community involvement sufficiently clear and comprehensive? If not what changes are needed?

Q8.A Are the criteria for the soundness of statements of community involvement as set out in paragraph B.13 appropriate? If not what should these be?

Q9. Section C of the code describes the process of preparing a development plan document. Does it make it sufficiently clear how the people and community will be involved with the process? If not what changes need to be made?

Q9.A Do you have any views on the approach to be taken to assessing the soundness of the plan, paragraphs C.6 and C.7 on the Government Office role; C.9 to C.11 on the pre-submission consultation and C.15 to C.20 on the making of representations?

Q9.B Is the guidance in paragraphs C.22 to C.24 on advertising alternative sites clear? If not what changes do you suggest?

Q9.C Is the guidance on pre-examination changes at paragraphs C.25 and C.26 clear? If not what changes do you suggest?

Q10. Section D deals with the independent examination. Is the guidance sufficiently comprehensive and clear? If not what changes are required?

Q10.A Paragraph D.7 identifies the types of procedure which will be used at the examination. Do you agree that the formal inquiry procedure is unlikely to be necessary in most cases? Are there any other types of procedure which might be used for examining the soundness of the plan or statement of community involvement?

Q10.B Paragraph D.12 identifies the factors which the inspector will take into account when determining the procedure to adopt at the examination. Are these the right factors to consider? If not what others should be included?

Q10.C Does Annex A give sufficiently clear and comprehensive guidance on how the examination process will work? If not what changes are needed?

Q11. Section E gives guidance on the binding report and the adoption procedure. Is this sufficiently clear? If not what changes are needed?

Q12. Section F explains the process for the preparation of supplementary planning documents. Is it sufficiently clear and comprehensive? If not what changes are needed?

Q13. Section G explains the intervention roles of the Secretary of State. Is the guidance sufficiently clear and comprehensive? If not what changes are needed?

Q14. Is the challenge and complaints procedure set out in Section H sufficiently clear and comprehensive? If not what changes are needed?

Q15. Section I explains the procedures relating to the LPAs annual monitoring report. Is the guidance sufficiently clear and comprehensive? If not what changes are needed?

Creating Local Development Frameworks

Q1. Style and format - Is the draft guide easy to understand, and is the format user friendly? If not, what could be improved?

Q2. Coverage of issues - Does the draft guide provide an adequate explanation of how to prepare Local Development Frameworks? Are there any issues that have been omitted and/or issues that require further or more detailed consideration? If so, please detail relating to relevant sections or paragraphs.

Q3. Content - Does the draft guide provide an adequate explanation of the details and main principles of the new system? If not, what could be improved? Does the draft guide provide useful, practical advice on Local Development Framework production techniques? If not, what could be improved?

8423App2/TC