Costs - Circular 23/93 (Welsh Office)

Award of costs incurred in planning and other (including compulsory purchase Order) Proceedings

The power to award costs

6. Section 250 (5) of the Local Government Act 1972enables the Secretary of State to make an order as to the costs of the parties at an inquiry. This power is applied to various planning proceedings by section 320 of, and Schedule 6 to, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; by section 89 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990; and by section 37 of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990. In the case of hearings, the provisions of section 322 of, and paragraph 6 (5) of Schedule 6 to, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 were commenced on January 2, 1992 in respect of the award of costs to, or against, a party in planning and listed building consent appeals, and other cases dealt with by way of a hearing, where the appeal is made, or other proceedings are begun, under the Planning Acts, on or after that date. Thus, except in proceedings not under the Planning Acts, examples of which are identified in paragraph 9 below, legislation no longer distinguishes between inquiry and hearing cases for costs purposes.

7. Section 322A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (inserted by section 30 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which came into force on January 2, 1992, enables costs to be awarded against any party in proceedings under the Planning Acts whose "unreasonable" behaviour directly results in the late cancellation of an inquiry or hearing, so that expense incurred by any of the other parties is wasted. These provisions apply to all categories of proceedings listed in Annex 7 in which an inquiry or hearing is arranged under the Planning Acts, as provided for in paragraph 8 below. They apply to all such appeals made, or other proceedings begun, on or after January 2, 1992, in which an inquiry or hearing is subsequently arranged.

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