Ministers target planning administration in next phase of Red Tape Challenge

Around 100 housing and construction regulations are to be removed or amended following a review, the Government has announced, while – in a separate move – planning administration is to become the next focus for the Red Tape Challenge.

Planning Minister Nick Boles insisted that none of the changes would have an effect on countryside or environmental protections.

The planning administration theme of the Red Tape Challenge is intended to make the mechanics of the planning system more efficient and accessible, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

It will not make any changes to planning policy but instead “feed into the department’s wider work to help deliver a more streamlined, effective and accessible planning system, while maintaining necessary safeguards”.

Boles said: “We’re streamlining the building system and removing and improving regulations to lift unnecessary burdens where we can, to create a smooth journey through the construction process.

“The planning administration theme will build on this and simplify the mechanics of the planning system more.”

Mike Kiely, one of the ‘Sector Champions’ for the planning theme, said: “When I first went into planning, the Encyclopaedia of Planning Law went to four volumes; it is now ten. This is an opportunity to thin it down.

“The Red Tape Challenge wants to get rid of what’s no longer needed, to consolidate the bits that have frankly got out of hand and to amend the stuff that could just work a bit better. We won’t get back to four volumes, but let’s try and thin it out as much as we can.”

The DCLG said that a simpler framework of building regulations and local housing standards would be consulted on in the summer.

More information on the Red Tape Challenge can be viewed here.