Jim Dowd
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make revisions to Planning Policy Guidance 3 to allow for the revocation of planning consents previously granted.

Bob Neill (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Bromley and Chislehurst, Conservative)

Local planning authorities already have powers to revoke or modify planning permissions, but use them rarely and exceptionally. Local authorities are liable for compensation to applicants for abortive expenditure and any other loss or damage resulting from such action. A key tenet of the planning system is that once planning permission has been granted the applicant should be able to proceed with certainty.