Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue #
Regional Spatial Strategies - Transfer of Regional Planning Budget
On 1 July 2006 the Inspectorate took over responsibility from Department of Communities and Local Government for the administration of the Regional Planning budget for expenditure associated with Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS), a new system of regional development planning in England.
The budget covers various costs, such as for Examinations in Public (EiP) - recruiting Panel members, paying their fees and expenses, venue costs, the publication of Panel reports, consultancies, such as for Sustainability Appraisal of proposed changes to a draft RSS, and the publication of those changes.
There are eight RSS reviews under way at present. EiPs for the East of England, North East, Yorkshire and The Humber, North West, West Midlands Phase 1 and South East have been completed. Panel reports for all except the South East are with the appropriate Government Office (GO) to prepare the Secretary of State’s proposed changes. The Panel report for the South East is due to be submitted in July.
An EiP for the draft RSS for the South West opened in April and one for the East Midlands opens in May 2007.
The Inspectorate has pages on its website about RSSs
The Regional Planning budget is the responsibility of a small team in the Inspectorate, the Regional Spatial Strategy Co-ordination Team (RSSCT). Members of the team are Bob Wiggins, Andy Gadsby and Rhalina Yuill.
RSSCT liaises closely with GOs, with the Programmes, Policy and Innovation Team in Department of Communities and Local Government, and with Panel Members (the Inspectorate maintains a panel of Chairs for EiPs). Apart from approving and processing payments, the Team are also responsible for other administration matters, such as recruiting and appointing the Panel members, and generally trying to ensure the best value is made of the Regional Planning budget in the RSS process.
Bob Wiggins
Regional Spatial Strategy Co-ordination Team Leader
