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Mr. Clifton-Brown: I hear what the Minister says about investigating which categories of planning permission involve provisions limiting floor space that can be enforced. I suspect that the older, in-town supermarkets will have no maximum specified. When
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the more modern, out-of-town supermarkets were being built, people had become a bit more sophisticated, and limits were imposed. However, in some of our bigger inner cities the traffic impact is likely to be greater and less controllable.
Yvette Cooper: I hear the hon. Gentleman's point. I simply do not know whether that is the case, but it is one of the issues that I want to consider further. I am also keen to consider whether there is a need to clarify the position so that everyone is clearly aware of our interpretation of the powers that planning authorities have in this area and of the need to get planning permission for a mezzanine floor when planning permission specifies a maximum floor space.
The Government are clearly of the view that if a maximum floor space is specified within the planning permission, and if someone wants to build a mezzanine floor, planning permission will be required. On those grounds, I urge that the new clause be withdrawn.
Matthew Green: I am not convinced by the Minister's arguments that the law does not need tightening up and that this is a case of interpretation. Certainly, there are insufficient safeguards with many stores that were built without any conditions being attached. There is a danger that unless prompt action is taken, stores will rapidly get their mezzanine floors before any steps can be taken to put in new controls that might prevent them.
I am disappointed that the Minister does not think that the Bill is an appropriate vehicle for strengthening the law. This would be a timely way of ensuring that we act before advantage is taken of that loophole. Let us bear in mind that this had not come up as an issue 12 months ago, and a number of stores have now had mezzanines put in. We can foresee that in another 12 months that will have happened in many other stores throughout the country. We do not have time to deliberate on the matter.
I might be inclined to press the new clause to a vote, but I do not think that we have the numbers. As usual, we can do the maths in Committee. None the less, we would like something stronger from the Minister before Report, because we may have to return to the matter; if it is not dealt with promptly, we will not be able to solve the problem at all. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.
New Clause 29
Strategic environmental assessment
'All plans must be subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment.'—[Matthew Green.]
Brought up, and read the First time.
Matthew Green: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Amendment No. 130, in
clause 5, page 3, line 35, at end insert—
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Amendment No. 133, in
Matthew Green: I shall try to be brief on the new clause and amendments, which relate to an area that we covered in the original Committee in January. They would require the Government to make the planning system compliant with the strategic environmental assessment directive by July 2004. New clause 29 would ensure that all plans, from local development documents to regional spatial strategies, were subject to strategic environmental assessments.
When we debated that in January, the then planning Minister, now the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) said:
''The draft guidance is structured to enable authorities to comply with the directive within the context of the broader sustainability appraisal framework. There may be things in our framework that go well beyond what is in the directive and enhance it . . . I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the consultation.''—[Official Report, Standing Committee G, 9 January 2003; c. 23.]
I should like to know from the Minister for Housing and Planning whether that consultation has ended and what its outcome has been, because we are running out of time. We are talking about next July. When we were in Committee last January we had 18 months to go, so the assurances from the Minister of the time carried some weight. We are now halfway through that 18 months, and I have tabled the new clause and amendments to tease out from this Minister what progress has been made, and whether he is satisfied that the Government will meet the needs of the strategic environmental assessment directive by next July.
Keith Hill: I, too, shall attempt to be brief in my reply. We do not need the new clause or the amendments because under the terms of the Bill, local development documents and revisions of regional spatial strategies will be subject to European directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, which is known as the strategic environmental assessment, or SEA, directive. The consultation has now been completed and guidance for planning authorities on the SEA directive will be published next week. Draft regulations will appear in December. It seems to me that that was what the hon. Gentleman was seeking to tease out. I hope that I have given him the answer, and with that I can sit down and invite him to withdraw the new clause.
Matthew Green: I thank the Minister for that. This is another situation in which the response to the consultation and the draft guidance is just about to be published. There would be far less need for new clauses and amendments if they had been published a few
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weeks ago, but with the Minister's assurances that we shall have compliance, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.
New Clause 30
Access for disabled people
'(1) In the principal Act for section 76 (Duty to draw attention to certain provisions for benefit of disabled) there is substituted the following section—
(1) Any application for planning permission shall not be entertained by the local planning authority, or as the case may be, by the Secretary of State unless it is accompanied by an access statement.
(2) An 'access statement' is a statement which demonstrates that the applicant has fully considered the access requirements of disabled people in relation to the whole development and has described how they intend to meet them.
(3) An access statement shall, in particular, demonstrate that the proposed development complies with relevant statutory duties, relevant access standards and any policies on inclusive design included in the local planning authority's development plan.
(4) Relevant statutory duties include—
(a) the duties of persons providing buildings to which the public are to be admitted, under sections 4 and 7 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 to make provision for members of the public who are disabled;
(b) the duties of persons providing universities, schools, offices and other premises, under sections 7, 8 and 8A of that Act, to make provision for people who are disabled;
(c) the duties of employers and trade organisations, under sections 6 and 15 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act, to make adjustments to premises; and
(d) the duties of service providers, under section 21 of that Act and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act, to make adjustments to premises
(e) the duties of education providers, under section 28T of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and under any code of practice issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A of that Act;
(3) Relevant access standards include—
(a) British Standard 8300 ''Designing buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people'' or any document replacing it; and
(b) in the case of developments related to new housing, the Lifetime Homes standard.''
(2) In the principal Act, after section 76 there is inserted the following section—
''76A.Duty to have special regard to needs of disabled people
(1) In dealing with an application to which this section applies the local planning authority, or as the case may be, the Secretary of State shall have special regard to the needs of disabled people and in particular the duties and standards mentioned in section 76.
(2) This section applies to—
(a) an application under sections 62 or 73 for planning permission;
(b) an application under section 92 for the approval of reserved matters; and
(c) an application for the approval of details required under a condition of a grant of planning permission (including a permission granted by a development order).
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(3) In this section, the terms ''disabled'' and ''disabled people'' shall be construed in accordance with section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.''
(3) In the Listed Buildings Act 1990—
(a) in section 16 (decision on application), after subsection (2) there is inserted the following subsection—
''(2A) In considering whether to grant listed building consent for any works or to approve details under a condition of a listed building consent, the local planning authority or the Secretary of State shall also have special regard to the needs of disabled people.''
(b) in section 91(2) (interpretation), before ''development plan'', there is inserted ''disabled people,''.
(4) In the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979—
(a) in section 2 (control of works affecting scheduled monuments), after subsection (3) there is inserted the following subsection—
''(3A) In considering whether to grant scheduled monument consent for any works or to approve details under a condition of such a consent, the Secretary of State shall have special regard to the needs of disabled people.''
(b) in section 61(1) (interpretation), before ''designation order'' there is inserted—
''''disabled people'' has the same meaning as in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;''.'—[Matthew Green.]
Brought up, and read the First time.
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