A major inter-departmental review has been launched into ways to cut red tape and streamline the planning system, making it more user-friendly and easy to understand. Communities secretary, Hazel Blears, has joined forces with business secretary, John Hutton, to promise a ‘greener and more efficient' planning system that will be more responsive to local needs. The Planning applications: A faster and more responsive system review will be carried out by Joanna Killian, chief executive of Essex CC, and David Pretty, former group chief executive of Barratt Developments Plc. It will report to housing and planning minister, Caroline Flint, and business and competitiveness minister, Baroness Vadera, and examine ways in which new technology can be used to speed up planning processes as well as the role of statutory organisations, such as the Highways Agency, the Environment Agency and Natural England. Major reform to the planning system is already under way to give communities a greater say in a faster decision-making process for large infrastructure projects, and local authorities have significantly improved their speed at handling applications, with 75% now meeting performance targets compared with just 25% in 2001.
