Statutory Consultee Responses: Must Try Harder?

In this blog, part of our series on the Government's technical consultation on implementation of the planning changes, we discuss proposals to limit response times for statutory consultees.

Prior to making decisions on planning applications, authorities must consult the relevant statutory consultees for their opinions. Statutory consultees are under a duty to respond within 21 days, however, recent performance data indicates that in 5-12% of cases statutory consultees requested and received additional time.

To encourage authorities to reach timely decisions on applications, and minimise potential delays caused by the slow response of statutory consultees, the consultation suggests limiting requests for extensions of time to a maximum of 14 days.