DCLG has published its 2012 - 2015 business plan with an easy read guide to what we can look forward to over the short term. The plan covers a range of CLG responsibility areas, but I picked out the following;
Neighbourhood planning - further secondary legislation "as necessary" by October 2012, with provision for professional support and funding for neighbourhood planning in place by September 2012.
Reforms - Use Classes Order review, review of outline planning application content and the appeals process review - by April 2013 (although with consultation ahead of that).
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - further reform of the CIL Regulations to make sure that CIL "incentivises neighbourhoods to go for growth". This will presumably be the application of the "meaningful proportion" of CIL to local schemes.
Growth - proposals on tax increment finance and the delivery of business rate retention in enterprise zones by April 2013, along with a "high street challenge" fund competition to incentivise ideas to regenerate local town centres.
I saw nothing on pre-application consultation (Localism Act s 122), unless that is meant to be part of the further secondary legislation on neighbourhood planning, further amendment of the CIL regs to give more direction around the appropriate evidence base (Localism Act a 114) nor on locally set planning fees.
