Member

Amendment 99ZA seeks to probe the statutory requirement for the Secretary of State to ensure that over time income from planning fee surcharges does not exceed the relevant costs incurred by listed persons. A statutory cost recovery limit is appropriate. Without this, surcharges could exceed the funding needs of statutory consultees, turning a mechanism designed to support planning services into a potential revenue-raising tool. That would risk undermining the fairness of the planning fee regime and could increase financial burdens on applicants without any clear justification for doing so. Developers and planning authorities rightly expect surcharges to reflect genuine service costs. Removing the safeguard could erode trust in the system and invite calls for greater oversight or even increase legal challenge. That might please some lawyers, but it makes it more difficult for people.