Angela Rayner criticises Reform leader for voting against planning changes

Angela Rayner has accused Tameside’s Reform leader of a 'nonsensical political stunt' after he orchestrated the refusal of her planning reforms.

In her role as the secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ashton MP brought in changes to the local planning system, which came into effect on October 31. Allan Hopwood, who is the opposition leader on Tameside council, led the charge against these changes, calling them ‘egregious’.

His Reform UK group, alongside the Conservatives and Tameside Independent Group twice voted down changes to accept the planning reforms – defeating the minority Labour-run administration.

Following the first defeat on the vote in October, Cllr Hopwood sent a letter to Angela Rayner, telling her to put a stop to the National Scheme of Delegation. He claimed the minister’s changes ‘take away the right of local councillors to decide smaller applications and limit their ability to bring larger ones to committee’. 

Cllr Hopwood said councillors were ‘asked to vote with a gun to our heads’.

After the second refusal by Tameside council at an extraordinary council meeting last week, Angela Rayner responded to Cllr Hopwood. She described his actions as ‘self-defeating’ and bringing ‘risk to investment, jobs and homes for local people’.

Ms Rayner’s letter said: “Unfortunately, the self-defeating actions of the Reform Tameside group and others have brought the council in contradiction with national regulations. Alongside the risks to investment, jobs and homes for local people, your vote means that Tameside’s planning committee will lose its ability to legally exercise its planning powers even over the most important choices put to council. 

“Powers will begin to sit with unelected officers – far from voting for local democracy, you are choosing to take powers away from local councillors. Your letter failed to mention this drastic risk to decision-making powers for elected members. 

“It is not clear whether you were deliberately seeking to mislead the public by pretending otherwise, or if this simply reflects your ignorance of the planning system. But whatever your motives, given the fair and proportionate alternative available, this decision is not one that I can support.”

The letter added: “The leadership of Tameside council is delivering a £100 million capital regeneration programme, with investment to Ashton town centre, repairs and improvements to Ashton Market Hall, repair works to the Civic Hall, infrastructure including a new bridge across the River Tame and an accelerator programme investment to reduce the number of vacant town centre units. That is what real, meaningful action to deliver for local people looks like.

“In contrast, it is clear that residents are an afterthought to your latest nonsensical political stunt. I will continue to work closely with the council’s leadership to make a success of devolution, secure investment, and build more good, affordable homes, including much-needed council homes. I suggest that you do the same.”

Responding to Ms Rayner’s letter to him, Coun Hopwood claimed she is trying to ‘bully councillors into accepting this hare brained scheme’. He refuted the claims that he and his Reform group are ignorant of the planning system or misleading the public.

The Longdendale councillor feels the changes are ‘flying in the face of democracy’.

Cllr Hopwood said: “Angela Rayner’s letter, or backfired political stunt, gets the facts the wrong way round.

“She claims her National Scheme of Delegation for planning protects elected members’ right to decide the most important applications. When It actually does the opposite.

“Householder applications and most schemes of up to nine homes would go straight to unelected officers. Councillors cannot call them in no matter how strongly residents object.

“Larger applications are also expected to be decided by officers. They only reach committee if the chief planner and the committee chair both agree it meets a strict test of local significance adding a level of ambiguity and favours decision making behind closed doors.

“The original right of ward councillors to call in controversial decisions would be removed by this over zealous, dictatorial scheme. The scheme hands more power to officers and takes it from the councillors that residents chose to elect.”

The government changes effectively reduce the power of committees by reducing their size (maximum of 13 members) and the number of applications they decide on. Under the new rules planning applications would be split into two tiers – Schedule 1 applications and Schedule 2 applications, designated by planning officers.

Schedule 1 includes smaller and more technical applications that would only be dealt with by planning officers. Schedule 2 covers larger applications, which may be brought before the planning committee, if agreed by the planning committee chair and the council’s chief planning officer.

Local authorities across the country needed to change their constitutions to facilitate these changes and be able to continue their role as a Local Planning Authority (LPA).  Only Tameside, Bolton, Fenland and Central Bedfordshire councils had refused to do so.

Bolton council have since accepted the changes in a bid to work within the law.

It is understood that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) position is that after October 31, local planning authorities must determine all planning applications in accordance with the new rules.

If their constitutions have not been updated, as is presently the situation in Tameside, their planning panel will be operating outside these rules and all decisions will be made by planning officers by default.