Comment

Budget 2015: Changes to compulsory purchase

Angus Walker

Angus Walker of Bircham Dyson Bell looks at the implications of small tweaks that will make a significant difference in how CPOs are obtained.

On budget day the government launched a consultation on a series of proposed changes to compulsory purchase procedures.  They are all fairly small tweaks designed to improve speed and fairness that will cumulatively mean a significant difference in the way CPOs are obtained.

"The government floats the idea of inspectors taking decisions on applications of only local importance themselves rather than decision-making always being done by the relevant Secretary of State.  Does that introduce a democratic deficit?  The decision taking Infrastructure Planning Commission was abolished by this government for that very reason."

26 separate changes are proposed, and what follows is a description of the main ones.  On balance, they tend to favour landowners over those acquiring their land, but some measures, such as more certainty on timings, will benefit everyone.

First, the reluctance of public bodies to pay over the odds to acquire land by agreement early on in a project due to their obligation to obtain best value is tackled.  This is done by changing guidance so that all the factors that might make persevering with a CPO more expensive can be taken into account, such as delays to the project, handling Lands Chamber claims, consultants' fees and so on.  Private developers, who have no such obligation, routinely pay a higher price for land to avoid hassle later.

The current very short notice period for entry onto land is to be extended from a mere 14 days to a more reasonable three months.  This longer period already applies when ‘general vesting declarations’ are sued, and in the case of hybrid bill projects such as HS2.

Time limits are to be introduced for various stages to provide more certainty and prevent applications from dragging on.  For example, if there is a public inquiry, a decision must be issued within 24 weeks of it closing.  This will certainly be welcomed by those applying for CPO powers.

Measures are proposed to stop acquiring bodies from dragging their heels once they have issued notices of entry, and make them pay a proportion of compensation in advance earlier.  The interest rate on late compensation payments is also to be raised to 1% above the base rate rather than 0.5% below it, which since the base rate is 0.5% at the moment is currently zero and is no incentive to pay sooner rather than later.

The government floats the idea of inspectors taking decisions on applications of only local importance themselves rather than decision-making always being done by the relevant Secretary of State.  If the response to the consultation is positive, then more details will be worked up.  Does that introduce a democratic deficit?  The decision taking Infrastructure Planning Commission was abolished by this government for that very reason.

All in all these proposals seem sensible and are likely to be uncontroversial.  As the consultation straddles the election, though, it merely says that it will be up to the new government to decide what to do about it.

Angus Walker is Head of Government and Infrastructure at Westminster based law firm Bircham Dyson Bell