65.Subsections (1) & (2) of this section define what is meant by the term “national policy statement”.
66.Subsections (3) and (4) provide that a national policy statement can be designated only if the Secretary of State has first carried out a sustainability appraisal, has complied with the consultation requirements mentioned in section 7 and with the parliamentary requirements set out in section 9.
67.Subsection (5) gives examples of what types of policy may be contained in a national policy statement. These examples include setting out criteria to be applied in deciding whether a location is suitable for a particular description of development, and identifying a location as suitable (or potentially suitable) for development. Subsection (6) requires a national policy statement to set out criteria to be taken into account in the design of the relevant description of development.
68.Subsection (7) provides that a national policy statement must include reasons for the policy in the statement. Subsection (8) provides that the reasons must include an explanation of how the policy takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.
69.Subsection (9) requires the Secretary of State to arrange for a national policy statement to be published and to be laid before Parliament.
70.This section requires the Secretary of State to review all or part of a national policy statement when she considers it appropriate and specifies considerations which must be taken into account when deciding when to carry out a review. Provision is made for an appraisal of sustainability to be carried out when carrying out a review. Consultation on, and parliamentary scrutiny of, proposed amendments is required and if the statement is amended publication requirements apply.
71.Where the Secretary of State proposes to designate a statement to be a national policy statement, or amend a national policy statement, the Secretary of State must carry out such consultation and arrange for associated publicity as she thinks appropriate, and a Parliamentary scrutiny process must be completed. The Secretary of State must also consult such persons as are prescribed.
72.If the new or amended proposals refer to a particular location as being suitable (or potentially suitable) for a specified type of development, the Secretary of State must ensure that there is suitable publicity for the proposal in that location. Section 8 sets out that in deciding what publicity is appropriate for this purpose the Secretary of State must consult the local authority in which the land is located and adjoining local authorities. If the location concerned is in Greater London, the Secretary of State must also consult the GLA.
73.This section provides that where the Secretary of State is either designating or reviewing a national policy statement, she must do so with the objective of contributing to sustainable development. This objective includes a duty to have regard to the desirability of mitigating, and adapting to, climate change, and achieving good design.
74.This section provides that the Secretary of State may suspend the operation of part or all of a national policy statement if she decides that since the relevant part of the statement was issued or reviewed there has been a significant change in circumstances which was not anticipated. Suspension by the Secretary of State is possible only where she thinks that if the change had been anticipated any of the policy included in the relevant part of the statement would have been materially different.
75.Subsection (1) of this section provides that the Secretary of State may exercise her powers under section 5 to designate a statement as a national policy statement even if the statement was issued by the Secretary of State before section 5 comes into force, or if the statement refers to another statement so issued.
76.Subsection (2) prevents the Secretary of State from designating a pre-commencement statement where she thinks that there has been a significant and unanticipated change of circumstances, which if it had been anticipated, would have led to policy being materially different.
77.By virtue of subsection (4) of section 12 the Secretary of State may take account of appraisal carried out before section 5(2) comes into force for the purpose of complying with the requirements of section 5(2)..
78.Subsection (5) of section 12 enables the Secretary of State to take account of any consultation or publicity arranged before section 5 comes into force for the purpose of complying with the consultation and publicity requirements of section 7.
79.This section provides that legal challenges in connection with national policy statements can be brought only by judicial review and only during specified six-week periods.