Order, Order

We turn now to a vote on the Planning (Welsh Planning Agency and Local Planning Boards) (Wales) Bill.

Planning (Welsh Planning Agency and Local Planning Boards) (Wales) Bill 2023

An Act of the Senedd Cymru to make provision about planning

Transfer of powers

1 Transfer of powers to local planning boards

(1) The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is amended as follows.

(2) For section (1B), substitute—

(1B) In Wales, the local planning authority for a county or a county borough is the local planning board established by the Welsh Planning Agency for the county or county borough.

Welsh Planning Agency

2 Welsh Planning Agency

(1) The Welsh Planning Agency is established.

(2) It is a body corporate.

(3) Schedule 1 makes further provision about the Welsh Planning Agency.

Local planning boards

3 Local planning boards

(1) The Welsh Planning Agency must establish bodies called local planning boards in accordance with this section.

(2) There must be one local planning board for each county and county borough.

(3) Each local planning board is to be established by order made by the Welsh Planning Agency for an area within Wales.

(4) The area for which a local planning board is established must not coincide or overlap with the area of any other local planning board.

(5) The Welsh Planning Agency must ensure that, at all times on and after the appointed day, the areas of local planning boards together cover the whole of Wales.

(6) An order establishing a local planning board must provide for the constitution of the board, either by setting out the constitution or by making provision by reference to a published document where it is set out.

(7) The Welsh Planning Agency must publish orders under this section.

(8) In this section “the appointed day” means a day appointed under this subsection by regulations made by the Welsh Ministers.

(9) Schedule 2 makes further provision about local planning boards.

Final provisions

4 Commencement

(1) This Act comes into force 1 year after Royal Assent.

5 Short title

(1) This Act may be known as the Planning (Welsh Planning Agency and Local Planning Boards) (Wales) Act 2023.

SCHEDULES

SCHEDULE 1

WELSH PLANNING AGENCY

Appointment of members

1 (1)The Welsh Planning Agency is to consist of—

(a) a member appointed by the Welsh Ministers to chair the Welsh Planning Agency, and

(b) other members appointed by the Welsh Ministers.

(2) The Welsh Ministers may appoint a person as a member only if the Senedd Cymru has approved the appointment.

(3) In appointing members, the Welsh Ministers must have regard, among other things, to the desirability of ensuring that the membership (taken as a whole) has expertise or experience in—

(a) law relating to planning,

(b) housing policy,

(c) planning policy, and

(d) other matters which the Welsh Ministers consider relevant to planning and housing.

(4) A member is appointed for such period not exceeding 4 years as the Welsh Ministers determine.

(5) The Welsh Ministers may reappoint a person as a member if—

(a) the person—

(i) is a member at the time of reappointment, or

(ii) ceased to be a member not more than 3 months before the date of reappointment, and

(b) the person has not previously been reappointed.

(6) Sub-paragraphs (2) and (4) apply to the reappointment of a person as a member as they apply to the appointment of a person as a member.

(7) The Welsh Ministers may determine other terms and conditions of membership in relation to matters not covered by this Act.

Persons who may not be members

2 (1) The Scottish Ministers may not appoint a person as a member if sub-paragraph (2) or (4) applies to the person.

(2) This sub-paragraph applies to a person who is—

(a) a member of—

(i) the Scottish Parliament,

(ii) the House of Commons,

(iii) the House of Lords,

(iv) Senedd Cymru, or

(v) the Northern Ireland Assembly,

(b)a member of the Welsh Government,

(c) a Minister of the Crown,

(d) an office-holder in the Welsh Administration,

(e) an office-holder of the Crown in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom,

(f) the holder of any other relevant elective office as defined by paragraph 1(8) of schedule 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000,

(g) a civil servant.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) does not apply to a person who is a councillor or an employee of a local authority.

(4) This sub-paragraph applies to a person who is or has been—

(a) insolvent,

(b) disqualified as a company director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986,

(c) disqualified as a charity trustee under the Charities Act 2011,

(d) disqualified under a disqualification provision analogous to either of those mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c) anywhere in the world.

(4) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (3)(a), a person is or has been insolvent if—

(a) the person’s estate is or has been sequestrated,

(b) the person has granted a trust deed for creditors or has made a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) the person is or has been the subject of any other kind of arrangement analogous to either of those mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) anywhere in the world.

Members’ remuneration and expenses

3 (1)The Welsh Planning Agency may pay—

(a) its members, and

(b) the members of any local planning board established by it, such remuneration as it may, with the approval of the Scottish Ministers, determine.

(2) The Welsh Planning Agency may pay—

(a) its members, and

(b) the members of any local planning board established by it, such sums as it may, with the approval of the Scottish Ministers, determine in respect of expenses incurred by them in performing their functions.

Early termination of membership

4 (1) A person’s membership of the Welsh Planning Agency ends if—

(a) the person gives notice in writing to the Welsh Ministers and the Llywydd of the Senedd that the person resigns,

(b) the person becomes disqualified from being a member,

(c) the Welsh Ministers give the person notice in writing that the person is removed from being a member.

(2) The Welsh Ministers may remove a member under sub-paragraph (1)(c) only if—

(a) the member has been absent, without permission or reasonable excuse, from meetings of the Welsh Planning Agency for a period of longer than 3 consecutive months,

(b) the member has been convicted of a criminal offence, or

(c) the Welsh Ministers consider that the member is—

(i) unable to perform the member’s functions, or

(ii) unsuitable to continue as a member.

(3) Where they propose to give a person, other than the person who is the member appointed to chair the Welsh Planning Agency, notice under sub-paragraph (1)(c) that the person is to be removed from being a member, the Welsh Ministers must consult the member appointed to chair the Welsh Planning Agency.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may remove a member under sub-paragraph (1)(c) only with the approval of the Senedd Cymru.

(5) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (1)(b), a person becomes disqualified from being a member if paragraph 3(2) or (4) applies to the person.

Chief executive and other staff

5 (1) The Welsh Planning Agency is to have, as a member of staff, a chief executive.

(2) The chief executive may not be a member of the Welsh Planning Agency.

(3)The Welsh Ministers are to appoint the first chief executive with the approval of the Senedd Cymru.

(4) The Welsh Planning Agency is to appoint each subsequent chief executive.

(5) The Welsh Planning Agency may appoint other staff.

(6) The chief executive and other staff are to be appointed on such terms and conditions as the Welsh Planning Agency, with the approval of the Welsh Ministers, determines.

Authority to perform functions

6 (1) The Welsh Planning Agency may authorise—

(a) any of its members,

(b) any local planning board established by it,

(c) its chief executive, or

(d) any other member of its staff, to perform such of its functions (and to such extent) as it may determine.

(2) The giving of authority under sub-paragraph (1) to perform a function does not—

(a) affect the Welsh Planning Agency’s responsibility for the performance of the function, or

(b) prevent the Welsh Planning Agency from performing the function itself.

Regulation of procedure

7 The Welsh Planning Agency may regulate its own procedure (including quorum) and that of any local planning board.

Validity of things done

8 The validity of anything done by the Welsh Planning Agency or a local planning board is not affected by—

(a) a vacancy in membership,

(b)a defect in the appointment of a member,

(c) the disqualification of a person from being a member after appointment.

General powers

10 The Welsh Planning Agency may do anything which appears to it—

(a) to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the performance of its functions, or

(b) to be otherwise conducive to the performance of its functions.

Annual report

10 (1) The Welsh Planning Agency must, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year—

(a) prepare and publish a report on its activities during that year,

(b) send a copy of the report to the Welsh Ministers, and

(c) lay a copy of the report before the Senedd Cymru.

(2) It is for the Welsh Planning Agency to determine the form and content of each report.

Resources

11 (1) The Welsh Ministers must seek to ensure that the amount of resources allocated for use by the Welsh Planning Agency is reasonably sufficient to enable it to perform its functions.

(2) Each report prepared under paragraph 11 must include an assessment by the Welsh Planning Agency of whether the amount of resources allocated for use by it in the financial year to which the report relates was sufficient to enable it to perform its functions.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) does not affect the generality of paragraph 11(2).

SCHEDULE 2

LOCAL PLANNING BOARDS

1 (1) Local planning boards are to consist of members appointed by the council of the county or county borough (“the council”) which the local planning board’s area covers.

(2) The council may appoint a person as a member only if the Welsh Planning Agency has approved the appointment.

(3) In appointing members, the council must have regard, among other things, to the desirability of ensuring that the membership (taken as a whole) has expertise or experience in—

(a) law relating to planning,

(b) housing policy,

(c) planning policy, and

(d) other matters which the Welsh Planning Agency consider relevant to planning and housing.

(4) A member is appointed for such period not exceeding 4 years as the council determine.

(5) The council may reappoint a person as a member if—

(a) the person—

(i) is a member at the time of reappointment, or

(ii) ceased to be a member not more than 3 months before the date of reappointment, and

(b) the person has not previously been reappointed.

(6) Sub-paragraphs (2) and (4) apply to the reappointment of a person as a member as they apply to the appointment of a person as a member.

(7) The Welsh Planning Agency may determine other terms and conditions of membership in relation to matters not covered by this Act.

This bill is submitted by the Rt. Hon. /u/LightningMinion CBE OM KT PC on behalf of Welsh Labour. Parts of this bill are inspired by the following real-life acts: UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021, Health and Care Act 2022; and mhocholyrood’s Planning (Scotland) Act 2022.

Opening Speech:

LLywydd,

This bill overhauls the planning process by delegating the planning responsibilities of councils to new local planning boards under the direction of a new national planning agency, the Welsh Planning Agency, modelled off the Scottish Housing Agency I introduced in Scotland through the Planning (Scotland) Act 2022. By creating a new agency for housing and planning, we can ensure that house building is getting the priority it needs to solve Wales’ housing crisis, and to ensure that local “Not In My Backyard” councillors cannot block housing developments for no good reason.

The members of the Welsh Planning Agency will be formed of members nominated by the Welsh government and approved (or rejected) by the Senedd. The local planning boards, of which there will be one for each principal authority, will in turn be formed of members nominated by the local council and approved (or rejected) by the Welsh Planning Agency. This will ensure that local planning boards retain an element of local control and local representation while also ensuring that NIMBY sentiment isn’t represented on local planning boards, helping fix Wales’ shortage of housing.

Link to the Debate

Voting on this bill will end at the close of business on 28th May at 10pm BST