Housing and Regeneration Act 2008

15 HCA as local planning authority: local involvement

(1) Subsections (2) to (6) apply where a designation order provides for the HCA to be the local planning authority for the whole or any part of the designated area.

(2) The HCA must prepare and publish a statement of local involvement.

(3) The statement of local involvement is a statement of the HCA’s policy as to the extent to which it intends to involve persons mentioned in subsection (4) in relation to the exercise by the HCA of functions conferred on it by virtue of the designation order.

(4) The persons are—

(a) every local authority for the designated area or any part of the area in relation to which a function is to be exercised, and

(b) persons appearing to the HCA to have special knowledge or experience of matters relevant to functions to be exercised in relation to the area or part.

(5) The HCA must—

(a) keep the statement under review, and

(b) publish any revision of it.

(6) In deciding its policy about the extent of involvement of persons mentioned in subsection (4), the HCA must, in particular, have regard to—

(a) the benefits that it might receive from their knowledge and experience, and

(b) the nature of the functions concerned.

(7) Subsection (8) applies where—

(a) the HCA establishes a committee for the purpose of exercising functions conferred on the HCA by virtue of a designation order,

(b) such a committee establishes a sub-committee for such a purpose, or

(c) a new or replacement member is to be appointed to such a committee or sub-committee.

(8) The HCA must—

(a) inform every local authority for the designated area or any part of the area in relation to which the functions are to be, or are being, exercised of—

(i) the establishment of the committee or sub-committee concerned, or

(ii) (as the case may be) the proposed appointment, and

(b) invite the authority to suggest one or more candidates for membership of the committee or (as the case may be) sub-committee.

(9) In this section “local authority” has the same meaning as in section 13.