Planning Bill

While I am reassured that the current Minister would regard the transference and exercise of those powers by a Minister as an act of last resort, we know from past experience that assurances given at the Dispatch Box are not tantamount to guarantees out in the country. What reassurance can we have that a less benign Minister—someone who prefers to centralise such decisions more than she would—would not use that power to centralise decision making and sweep away local democracy?