25 November 2008

Government Welcomes The Killian Pretty Report

The Government yesterday welcomed proposals to help small businesses and councils save up to £300m a year through a root and branch overhaul of the bureaucratic planning application process recommended by the Killian Pretty review.

The review, commissioned by the Communities and Business Secretaries, is especially relevant given the current challenging economic environment. Creating a more proportionate and responsive planning application process will help businesses, developers, councils and households, facing these challenging circumstances both now and in the future.

Ministers agree with the Killian Pretty review that it is not good enough that we have a planning system that is ranked 61st in the world. They agree that the process for small scale minor developments (which constitute the vast majority of applications) needs to be made simpler, freeing up resources to deal better with larger and more complex proposals.

The Government has signalled it supports the broad thrust of the report. The Government intends to publish an implementation plan early in the new year, setting out in more detail how it intends to respond to the proposals that will deliver to the country the benefits of a leaner and less bureaucratic planning application process.

Housing and Planning Minister Margaret Beckett said: "We believe this is a thorough analysis that pinpoints where the application process can free up resources and be much less bureaucratic.

"I am determined that we do everything we can to tackle today's economic challenges head on. It is vital that when the economy begins to recover that people find a re-invigorated and leaner planning system.

"Where we can, we will act immediately to develop and take forward the Killian Pretty's recommendations as a matter of urgency so we deliver savings to the UK economy quickly."

The Government has already begun to modernise the planning system so it can meet the unprecedented pressures of the twenty-first century - a global trading system, rapid demographic shifts and climate change. The 2007 Planning White Paper and subsequent legislation have already made inroads and this report is the next step in the process of modernisation.

(JM)