The Department told us it was introducing a new system for plan-making that should be more streamlined, and would involve statutory timelines. Its aim would be for local authorities to be able to complete a plan in 30 months. The Department also told us it was giving additional support to those local authorities who had not started a plan, and in the future it would expect local authorities to feel under departmental pressure to produce a plan. It expressed a hope that a much higher number of...

The Department told us it was introducing a new system for plan-making that should be more streamlined, and would involve statutory timelines. Its aim would be for local authorities to be able to complete a plan in 30 months. The Department also told us it was giving additional support to those local authorities who had not started a plan, and in the future it would expect local authorities to feel under departmental pressure to produce a plan. It expressed a hope that a much higher number of local authorities would have an up-to-date plan by the end of the Parliament.19 The plan making system is far too complicated. The government should exa Type: recommendation | Number: 13 | Response status: accepted Government response: 2. PAC conclusion: The number of local planning authorities with an up-to-date local plan has fallen significantly since 2019. 2b. PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should provide the Committee with further details of: • if it wil