Infrastructure Planning (Decisions) Regulations 2010

My Lords, I am standing in for my noble friend Lord Tope. He would have liked to be here as he is learning fast about the Infrastructure Planning Commission. I picked up on the same words that were used by the Minister as the noble Lord, Lord Bates, did, when the Minister said that the regulations would add or remove nothing, but would preserve the status quo. Indeed, the Minister in the Commons said: ""The SI does nothing more than ensure that the statutory planning framework that applies under the current system continues".—[Official Report, Commons, Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, 27/1/10; col. 10.]" Is there "nothing less" as well as "nothing more"? The "nothing less" is important. I seek the assurance that no other requirements would apply under the Town and Country Planning Act regime rather than the IPC regime, as it is now. The Minister has made it clear that any changes in the future that applied right across the board would have to come in through the same mechanism. I wish to be quite clear that there are no other requirements to which local planning authorities and inspectors would have to have regard, or that would be binding on them. Another way of putting this question is: do the regulations simply tidy up, or might other matters at this date have to be prescribed under Sections 104 and 105 of the Planning Act 2008? We said during consideration of that legislation that getting a decision right was more important than deciding something quickly. I shall not rehearse again the arguments that we had then or the arguments about the Infrastructure Planning Commission. My colleagues in the Commons opposed this statutory instrument when they debated it because of wider concerns about the IPC, so I suppose that I respond to these regulations with very modified rapture.