Planning Bill

My Lords, I had not intended to speak but, given the comments made by the noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, I thought that I should make one or two points in relation to Scotland. I should perhaps declare an interest as a member of the Commission on Scottish Devolution. It is right to say that the Bill has tangential effects on Scotland. In effect, however, it extends to England and Wales and not beyond, except for particular instances involving a pipeline or something of that nature. I am not entirely sure what amendment we are speaking to, but the noble Duke raised the issue of Clause 13. I believe that, were there to be an issue in that context, it would be open to an interested person in Scotland to raise proceedings in the courts in England and Wales to challenge the national policy statement. However, the circumstances in which that might happen seem pretty remote and unusual, simply because national policy statements will not extend to Scotland. Of course, Scotland has its own national policy framework—the spatial plan—which is in some ways identical to the national policy statements but in other ways very different. I do not know whether that helps to resolve some of the issues that the noble Duke has raised, but I thought that I should give my understanding of the position, which I hope is shared by the Front Bench.