Labour accused of attempting to remove democratic power from councils
LABOUR was accused today of attempting to remove local democratic power from councils amid plans to bypass them in an overhaul of planning rules.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner wants to give Whitehall officials the power to rubber-stamp development proposals without permission from council committees under proposed reforms to speed up planning applications.
Such a move aims to end delays to new homes, cut time and resources spent on individual schemes and provide more certainty to housebuilders.
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