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Section 321 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act") provides that all planning inquiries are to be held in public except to the extent where, in relation to land in Wales, the National Assembly for Wales ("the National Assembly") or the Secretary of State otherwise direct that it would be contrary to national security on the grounds of national interest or the security of premises or property.
Sections 321 (as amended by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c.5) ("the 2004 Act")) and 321B of the 1990 Act make provision for the Counsel General to the National Assembly for Wales ("the National Assembly") to appoint persons ("appointed representatives") to represent the interests of any person who will be prevented from hearing or inspecting any evidence at a local inquiry if a section 321 direction is given by the National Assembly or the Secretary of State.
Paragraphs 6, 6A and 8 of Schedule 3 to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and paragraphs 6, 6A and 8 of the Schedule to the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990 make similar provision in respect of those Acts.
By virtue of the entries for the above cited Acts in Schedule 1 to the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672) (as varied by the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 2000 (S.I.2000/253) (W. 5) in the case of the 1990 Act), the power to give a direction under those provisions in relation to Wales is exercisable concurrently by either the National Assembly or the Secretary of State. In these Regulations they are each referred to as "the directing authority".
These Regulations make provision as to the procedure to be followed by the directing authority when it is considering whether to give a national security direction. Those provisions relate to publicity (regulation 6), written representations (regulation 8), hearings (regulations 9 and 10) and notification of the directing authority's decision (regulation 14).
These Regulations also set out the functions of appointed representatives (regulation 4).
The options for handling cases involving national security issues impact primarily on central government and have no impact on the costs of business, charities, voluntary bodies nor other parts of the private sector. The costs to central government will be minimal. A full regulatory impact assessment has consequently not been produced for this instrument.
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