# The Town and Country Planning (Hearings and Inquiries Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Rules 2013, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules amend the procedure for hearings and inquiries held in relation to most appeals made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the Planning Act”), and section 20 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (“the Listed Buildings Act”). They do not apply where the Secretary of State has issued a national security direction, or in relation to urgent Crown development. They do not apply in relation to type A or B appeals within the meaning in article 33(7) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 (“the DMPO”) (appeals relating to development that is substantially the same as development in respect of which an enforcement notice has been served). They also do not apply in relation to any appeal transferred out of Part 1 of the Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure) (England) Regulations 2009 (expedited written representations procedure).
Article 33(2)(b) of the DMPO sets out the documents that must be submitted with an appeal form in relation to appeals made under section 78 of the Planning Act. Similar provision is made in relation to listed building and conservation area appeals in regulation 8 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990. At the same time as making these Rules, we are amending article 33(2)(b) and regulation 8 so that the appellant is required to provide their “full statement of case” and a draft statement of common ground to the Secretary of State, copied to the local planning authority, when making an appeal. This is effected through the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2013 (“the DMPO Amendment Order”) and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Amendment No. 2) (England) Order 2013 (“the Listed Buildings Amendment Regulations”). For inquiries, the full statement of case now includes copies of the documents the party intends to rely on, rather than a list of those documents.
This means that the appellant is now required to submit their full case when they make an appeal, and these Rules make a number of changes that follow on from that. The “full statement case” replaces both hearing statements and statements of case so that the terminology is the same for both hearings and inquiries. It also replaces the appellant’s outline statement for pre-inquiry meetings in relation to inquiries determined by the Secretary of State. The appellant will be required to send their full statement of case to any statutory parties, as soon as practicable after they receive the relevant details.
The appellant will already have sent a copy of their full statement of case to the local planning authority when they submitted their appeal. Therefore, these Rules remove the requirement for the appellant to send the Secretary of State an additional copy for the Secretary of State to send to the local planning authority. Where the Mayor of London needs a copy of the appellant’s full statement of case, and draft statement of common ground, this will be sent directly by the appellant.
In relation to inquiries determined by Inspectors, and hearings, these Rules change the timings for certain stages in the procedure. The local planning authority will have one week less to notify relevant third parties that an appeal has been made. They will also have one week less to submit their full statement of case, and the parties will have one week less to agree a statement of common ground. These Rules also introduce the statement of common ground into the hearings procedure. Inquiries determined by inspectors and hearings will be held sooner where practicable; the date is brought forward by 4 weeks for such inquiries, and 2 weeks for hearings.
Similar changes are being made to the written representations procedure at the same time through the Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure and Advertisements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (“the Written Representations Amendment Regulations”). Under this procedure, the parties to the appeal make written submissions and the Secretary of State, or an Inspector on his behalf, determines the appeal without hearing any oral representations.
A combined impact assessment is being prepared for these Rules, the DMPO Amendment Order, the Listed Buildings Amendment Regulations and the Written Representations Amendment Regulations. The assessment will be placed in the Library of each House of Parliament and on the Department for Communities and Local Government website ( https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government ).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2137/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/town-and-country-planning-hearings-and-inquiries-procedure-england-amendment-rules-2013/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.