Member

The Government have recognised elsewhere the importance of regular review. Through the Planning and Infrastructure Act, Ministers have legislated to require national policy statements to be reviewed at least every five years. The National Planning Policy Framework imposes similar expectations for local plans. It is hard to see why local transport plans should be treated as an exception. We also know from experience that agreement can take years, even in areas that are meant to be leading the way. The slow progress in agreeing a local transport plan in the West Midlands Combined Authority, a mayoral area and an early adopter of this model, shows that delay is not a hypothetical risk; it is already happening.