Planning Bill Makes Parliamentary Progress

MPs have completed their line by line scrutiny of the Government’s flagship housing and planning bill. The amended legislation has emerged unscathed from opposition attempts to change the measures. The bill will now have its report stage in the Commons on 5 January before being passed on to the Lords. During the final exchanges MPs queued up to urge ministers to ensure planning departments were better resourced, including allowing councils to set their own planning charges. Planning minister Brandon Lewis reminded them that section 303 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 already provides for the Secretary of State to permit local planning authorities to set their own level of fees up to cost recovery. Read more on the Planning Portal.