The Law Society is backing proposals for local authorities to outsource the processing of planning applications to external legal advisers.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has been consulting on planning elements of its Housing and Planning Bill, such as new forms of planning permission and the creation of neighbourhood and local plans.

The department said it was ‘keen’ to explore competition in the processing of planning applications to ensure the process ‘is resourced in a way that allows an efficient and effective service to be provided’.

Submitting a joint response, the Law Society and City of London Law Society said planning consultancies and legal advisers who are able to demonstrate ‘sufficient’ expertise should be able to compete to process minor planning applications.

Under the government’s proposals, in some areas for a limited period of time, a planning applicant would be able to apply either to the local planning authority for the area or an ‘approved provider’.

Local planning authorities would not be prevented from continuing to process applications or be forced to outsource their development management services. The final decision on individual applications would remain their responsibility.

Highlighting the potential for conflicts of interest, the societies said they did not think applicants should be able to select a provider. Potential conflicts could be managed by the applicant being required to submit their application to the local planning authority, they suggested.

‘The authority, rather than the applicant, should have the ability to decide who is going to process the application,’ they said. ‘The authority may decide that the application will be handled by itself or by one of their approved external providers on a panel set up by the authority.

‘The authority could, therefore, manage any risk for conflict in its choice of external provider. This is akin to the process whereby authorities outsource legal services to external law firms.’

The bill introduces a new dispute resolution mechanism for section 106 agreements (legal agreements between local authorities and developers, known as ‘planning obligations’).

The societies said the procedure could be a ‘helpful tool’ for applicants ‘in the context of the tests that planning obligations have to comply with, contained in regulation 122 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010’.

They added: ‘In our experience, planning authorities do not always interpret the regulation 122 test appropriately and seek to insist on planning obligations that do not meet the tests. This creates a judicial review risk and can have an impact on scheme viability’.

DCLG ‘envisages’ that the process will be undertaken by an independent body on behalf of the secretary of state.

The societies said the appointed person should have ‘extensive’ experience of drafting and negotiating planning obligations ’which are of a comparable nature and complexity to the planning obligation in dispute’.