Planning Bill

My Lords, I am pleased to have an opportunity to return to this matter. On the great tribute that the noble Lord paid me, I take it as no more than my duty to keep the House informed of how we are approaching the Bill and it has been a pleasure to work with noble Lords on all sides of the House. I had hoped that we would have resolved this so that, on Report, I would be able to give the detail. Unfortunately, although progress is being made, we have not quite got there. I take the point made by the noble Lord. In Committee, we debated the difference between general and specific duties. I apologise to the noble Lord that we have not been able to finalise the advice in time for Report. I would like him to accept, on behalf of the people for whom he is speaking, my assurances that this will not fall between the cracks. It will be addressed properly as part of the implementation process for the IPC. Once a final decision has been taken, the noble Lord will be the first person to know. I shall write to him and to the noble Lord, Lord Low of Dalston. I feel confident in making that case, without reiterating what I said in Committee, because I am of the same mind as the noble Lord. Perhaps I can digress for a minute from the Bill. Last year, we spent a great deal of time in my department developing a policy called Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods. Essentially, that was the first policy of its kind to address what we need as an ageing society: not only homes in which we can grow old, stay independent, safe and comfortable and which are affordable, but neighbourhoods which are welcoming, inviting and responsive to the needs of people of all ages and of all disabilities. We are now in a process of configuring what we mean by a ““lifetime neighbourhood”” and what it might look like, whether it be planning communities in a regenerative context or new build communities. We worked alongside groups of elderly and disabled people to make this as sound and effective as it might be. I recently visited the Papworth Trust to look at how it is providing homes in the middle of communities for people with quite severe disabilities. It was a great inspiration to see how integration is effective and happy for everyone concerned. We have this much in mind. The noble Lord, Lord Tyler, earlier made the point that our planning system has not been particularly susceptible to people with particular needs or aspirations; it is nearly always a reactive process. I would like to see people involved in real planning—planning for real as we call it really—and being part of the debate that makes the scheme from the developer’s or local authority’s first vision of what they want for the community. People have to be in there right at the very beginning saying what they want. That is particularly important for people with visual or mobility difficulties. The noble Lord and I are of the same mind on this.