Explanatory note

Part 2 of the Planning Act 2008 provides for the Secretary of State to designate policy statements as national policy statements. These statements may set out national policy in relation to certain major infrastructure developments and for the purposes of the determination of applications for development consent under the Act. The Act sets out a number of consultation and publicity requirements which must be fulfilled before a statement can be designated as a national policy statement.

These Regulations prescribe the persons whom the Secretary of State must consult before designating a statement as a national policy statement. Table 1 contains a list of persons and the circumstances in which they must be consulted. Table 2 contains an additional list of persons and the circumstances in which they must be consulted before the Secretary of State designates a statement which includes locationally specific policy as a national policy statement.

An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as the policy options do not have an additional impact on business, charities or the public sector beyond what was examined in the Impact Assessment that accompanied the Planning Bill when it was introduced in Parliament on 27^th November 2007. That Impact Assessment can be found on the Communities and Local Government website (http://www.communities.gov.uk).