Written Statement: Welsh Government Interim Response to the Law Commission’s Report on Planning Law in Wales

The Law Commission for England and Wales was commissioned by the Welsh Government to undertake a detailed review of planning law in Wales, with the aim of simplifying and consolidating the legislation. The review concluded on 30 November 2018 with the submission of their report ‘Planning Law in Wales: Final Report’ for consideration by the Welsh Government. The final report was also laid in front of the National Assembly for Wales and published on the Law Commission’s website. 

In accordance with the protocol agreed between the Welsh Ministers and the Law Commission on 2 July 2015, an interim Government response on the Report is to be provided to the Law Commission within 6 months of its submission and publication. A more detailed response is to be provided within 12 months.

Today, I am pleased to have issued and published the Welsh Government’s interim response to the Report, which focuses on the core conclusions set out in Part 1 of the Consultation Paper (issued in November 2017) and of the Final Report. In particular it sets out the Government’s response to the Law Commission’s views on:

• the need to simplify and consolidate planning law;
• the case for a planning code; and
• the scope of the initial consolidation exercise.

The interim response can be accessed at:

https://gov.wales/interim-response-law-commission-report-planning-law-wales  

We continue to consider the 192 recommendations set out in Part 2 of the Report, which will be the focus of our detailed response to be issued later this year.