The Government has announced that as part of its planning reforms, there will be a review of the statutory consultee system.
The announcement highlighted the excessive number of statutory consultees, which currently stands at twenty-five, and expresses several key concerns:
- Failing to engage proactively.
- Taking too long to provide advice.
- Reopening issues that have already been addressed in local plans.
- Submitting automatic holding objections which are then later withdrawn.
- Providing advice that seeks gold-plated outcomes, going beyond what is necessary to make development acceptable in planning terms.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “For ten years, we have campaigned for reform to the statutory consultee process, and it is fantastic news that the Government has finally accepted the recommendations of NFB members seriously.”
The proposed changes include:
- Consulting on reducing the number of organisations, including the impact of removing Sport England, the Theatres Trust, and the Gardens Trust.
- Reviewing the scope of all statutory consultees, to decrease the type and number of applications.
- Clarifying that local authorities should only be consulting statutory consultees when necessary.
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight at the NFB, added: “We should not underestimate the significance of reforming the statutory consultee process to help projects get off the ground faster. Some consultees take months to respond and years to settle agreements, causing projects costs to spiral while planners get unfairly blamed for delays beyond their control.
“Statutory consultees should be subject to deemed discharge. This means if they fail to respond with twenty-one days, their challenge is forfeited. Unlike the current flawed deemed discharge system on planning conditions, exemptions should be extremely limited.”
