Advice to Ivan Stone

Enquiry

• From: Ivan Stone
• Date advice given: 6 April 2018
• Enquiry type: Email

Does PINS have responsibility for enforcing (monitoring, revoking) a DCO once it has been granted. If development is not in line with the DCO what is PINS role? Who is responsible for monitoring and enforcement.

Advice given

Thank you for your enquiry. The relevant Local Planning Authority (LPA) is responsible for enforcing a made Development Consent Order (DCO) issued by the relevant Secretary of State (SoS) for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008). However any conditions on a deemed Coast Protection Act 1949 consent or Food and Environmental Protection Act 1989 licence (or Deemed Marine Licence) would be enforced by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

The relevant LPA is usually responsible for enforcing and/or monitoring the provisions and requirements as set out in the made DCO. Part 8 of the PA2008 may be of interest to you regarding your query on “monitoring and enforcement”. It sets out Enforcement (offences) and where power is provided to the relevant LPA. The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) has no powers or involvement in enforcing the provisions and requirement within a made DCO.

Once a DCO has been granted, the Applicant may wish to make a non-material or material change to the made DCO and there is an application process for the Applicant to follow, should they wish to make such a change. This is set out in secondary legislation - Infrastructure Planning (Changes to, and Revocation of, Development Consent Orders) Regulation 2011.

The relevant SoS retains the decision-making powers in respect of such applications in order to maintain the integrity of the made DCO and will take a proportionate approach to consultation and notification of relevant interested parties when handling such applications depending on the scale and nature of the material or non-material change proposed.