Section 128: Abolition of Infrastructure Planning Commission
336.Section 128 and Schedule 13 provide for the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission. All property, rights and liabilities of the Infrastructure Planning Commission will transfer to the Secretary of State. The transfer will be treated as a relevant transfer for the purposes of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 if it would not otherwise be treated as a relevant transfer under those regulations.
Schedule 13: Infrastructure Planning Commission: transfer of functions to Secretary of State
337.Schedule 13 makes amendments consequential to the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission including amendments transferring its functions to the Secretary of State. In particular, the amendments enable the Secretary of State to appoint an inspector, or a panel of three to five inspectors, to examine an application and make a recommendation to the Secretary of State as to the decision to be made on the application. The Secretary of State must decide the application in accordance with any relevant national policy statement, subject to specified exceptions.
338.A number of other amendments are made by Schedule 13, including the following:
paragraph 3 amends section 4 of the Planning Act 2008 to provide for the Secretary of State to charge fees in connection with specified functions
paragraph 6 repeals provision for the Secretary of State to prescribe non-compulsory model provisions.
