Office of Public Sector Information

Representatives of government departments at inquiry

16.—(1) Where another Minister of the Crown or any government department has expressed a view described in rule 4(1)(c) and the Secretary of State has included its terms in a statement sent in accordance with that rule, any person entitled to appear may, not later than four weeks before the date of an inquiry, apply in writing to the Secretary of State for a representative of the other Minister or department concerned to be made available at the inquiry.

(2) Where an application is made in accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall send the application to the other Minister or department, who shall make a representative available to attend the inquiry.

(3) Any person attending an inquiry as a representative in pursuance of this rule shall state the reasons for the expressed view and shall give evidence and be subject to cross-examination to the same extent as any other witness.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3) shall require a representative of a Minister or a government department to answer any question which in the opinion of the inspector is directed to the merits of government policy.

Proofs of evidence

17.—(1) Any person entitled to appear at an inquiry, who proposes to give, or to call another person to give, evidence at the inquiry by reading a proof of evidence, shall send two copies of the proof of evidence, in the case of a qualifying planning authority and the applicant, or three copies in any other case, to the Secretary of State.

(2) Where a copy of a proof of evidence sent under paragraph (1) contains more than 1,500 words, it shall be accompanied by a written summary, which, unless the inspector permits otherwise, shall not contain more than 1,500 words.

(3) Where a person sends copies of a proof of evidence and summary (if any), that person shall at the same time send a copy to every other person whom that person knows to be entitled to appear at the inquiry in accordance with rule 15(1) unless such a person has indicated in writing that he does not require to be sent a copy.

(4) The proof of evidence and any summary shall be received by the Secretary of State no later than the date specified by the inspector pursuant to rule 12(1)(b) or rule 12(5)(b) and as soon as practicable after receipt, the Secretary of State shall deposit each such proof of evidence and each such summary.

(5) The Secretary of State shall send to the inspector, as soon as practicable after receipt, any proof of evidence together with any summary sent to him in accordance with this rule.

(6) Any person, required by this rule to send copies of a proof of evidence to the Secretary of State, shall send with them the same number of copies of the whole, or the relevant part, of any document referred to in the proof of evidence, unless a copy of the document or part of the document in question is already available for inspection pursuant to rule 11(13).

(7) The Secretary of State or the inspector may in writing require any person who has sent a copy of a proof of evidence or summary in accordance with this rule to provide such additional copies of the proof or summary as he may specify and shall specify the time within which the copy of the proof or summary must be received by him.

(8) Any person required to provide additional copies shall ensure that the copies have been received by the Secretary of State or the inspector within the specified time.

Statement of common ground

18.—(1) The Secretary of State may in writing require the relevant planning authority and the applicant to prepare together an agreed statement of common ground.

(2) Where an agreed statement of common ground is prepared in accordance with paragraph (1), the applicant shall—

(a) ensure that, by the date specified by the inspector under rule 12(1)(b) or 12(5)(b), two copies of the statement have been received by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, deposit that statement;

(b) at the same time as he sends the statement to the Secretary of State, send a copy of it to every other person whom the applicant knows to be entitled to appear at the inquiry in accordance with rule 15(1), except the relevant planning authority; and

(c) afford to any other person who so requests a reasonable opportunity to inspect and, where practicable and on payment of a reasonable charge, take copies of the statement.

Procedure at inquiry

19.—(1) Except as otherwise provided, the inspector shall determine the procedure at an inquiry.

(2) At the start of the inquiry the inspector—

(a) shall identify—

(i) the matters to be considered at the inquiry; and

(ii) any matters on which he requires further explanation from the persons entitled or permitted to appear;

(b) may direct that in relation to such matters as he may specify, either or both of the following are to apply—

(i) evidence is not to be read out at the inquiry (or where a summary of evidence is sent in accordance with rule 17(4), that only the summary is to be read out); and

(ii) persons giving evidence are not to be subject to cross-examination on those matters.

(3) Nothing in paragraph (2) shall preclude any person entitled or permitted to appear from—

(a) referring to matters which they consider relevant to the consideration of the application but which were not matters identified by the inspector pursuant to paragraph (2)(a); and

(b) making oral submissions on any matters which are the subject of a direction under paragraph (2)(b).

(4) Unless in any particular case the inspector otherwise determines, the applicant shall begin and shall have the right of final reply; and the other persons entitled or permitted to appear shall be heard in such order as the inspector may determine.

(5) Subject to any direction under paragraph (2)(b), a person entitled to appear at an inquiry shall be entitled to call evidence and the applicant and a qualifying planning authority shall be entitled to cross-examine persons giving evidence.

(6) The inspector may refuse to permit the—

(a) giving or production of evidence;

(b) cross-examination of persons giving evidence; or

(c) presentation of any other matter,

which he considers to be irrelevant or repetitious; but where he refuses to permit the giving of oral evidence, the person wishing to give the evidence may submit to him any evidence or other matter in writing before the close of the inquiry.

(7) The inspector may refuse to permit the cross-examination of persons giving evidence, or may require such cross-examination to cease, if it appears to him that permitting such cross-examination or allowing it to continue would have the effect that the timetable approved by the Secretary of State or arranged by the inspector under rule 12 could not be met.

(8) The inspector shall not require or permit the giving or production of any evidence, whether written or oral, which he considers would be contrary to the public interest; but otherwise, the inspector may direct that documents tendered in evidence may be inspected by any person entitled or permitted to appear at the inquiry.

(9) Where a person gives evidence at an inquiry by reading a summary of his proof of evidence received by the Secretary of State under rule 17—

(a) the proof of evidence shall be treated as tendered in evidence, unless the person required to provide the summary notifies the inspector that he now wishes to rely on the contents of that summary alone; and

(b) subject to any direction under paragraph (2)(b)(ii), the person whose evidence the proof of evidence contains shall then be subject to cross-examination on it to the same extent as if it were evidence he had given orally.

(10) Where the inspector gives a direction under paragraph (2)(b)(i), any proof of evidence received by the Secretary of State under rule 17 which covers matters which are the subject of that direction shall, to the extent that it covers those matters, be treated as tendered in evidence, unless—

(a) the person has provided a summary in accordance with rule 17 and that person has notified the inspector that he now wishes to rely on the contents of that summary alone, in which case the summary shall be treated as tendered in evidence to the extent that it covers the matters which are the subject of the direction;

(b) the person alters or adds to the proof of evidence under paragraph (13), in which case the proof of evidence, as altered, shall be treated as tendered in evidence to the extent that it covers the matters which are the subject of the direction; or

(c) the person who has sent the proof of evidence notifies the inspector that he no longer wishes to give or call that evidence.

(11) The inspector may direct that facilities shall be afforded to any person appearing at an inquiry to take or obtain copies of documentary evidence open to public inspection.

(12) The inspector may—

(a) require any person appearing or present at an inquiry who, in his opinion, is behaving in a disruptive manner to leave; and

(b) refuse to permit that person to return or permit him to return only on such conditions as he may specify,

but any such person may submit to him any evidence or other matter in writing before the close of the inquiry.

(13) The inspector may allow any person to alter or add to a statement of case received by the Secretary of State under rule 11 or a proof of evidence received by the Secretary of State under rule 17 so far as may be necessary for the purposes of the inquiry; but he shall (if necessary by adjourning the inquiry) give every other person entitled to appear who is appearing at the inquiry an adequate opportunity of considering any such alteration or addition.

(14) The inspector may proceed with an inquiry in the absence of any person entitled to appear at it.

(15) The inspector may take into account any written representation or evidence or any other document received by him from any person before an inquiry opens or during the inquiry provided that he discloses it at the inquiry.

(16) The inspector may from time to time adjourn an inquiry and, if the date, time and place of the adjourned inquiry are announced at the inquiry before the adjournment, no further notice shall be required.

(17) Any person who appears at an inquiry and makes closing submissions shall by the close of the inquiry provide the inspector with a copy of their closing submission in writing.

Site inspections

20.—(1) The inspector may make an unaccompanied inspection of the land before or during an inquiry without giving notice of his intention to the persons entitled to appear at the inquiry.

(2) During an inquiry or after its close, the inspector may inspect the land in the company of the applicant, any qualifying planning authority, and, subject to paragraph (3), any qualifying objector who has returned a registration form in accordance with rule 6(4)(a).

(3) Where the inspector inspects the land after the close of an inquiry, a qualifying objector shall only be entitled to accompany him on that inspection if that objector appeared at the inquiry.

(4) In all cases where the inspector intends to make an accompanied site inspection he shall announce during the inquiry the date and time at which he proposes to make it.

(5) The inspector shall not be bound to defer an inspection of the kind referred to in paragraph (2) where any person mentioned in that paragraph is not present at the time appointed.

Procedure after inquiry

21.—(1) After the close of an inquiry, the lead inspector shall by such date as the Secretary of State may determine make a report in writing to the Secretary of State which shall include—

(a) his consideration of the application;

(b) the consideration by any additional inspector of the matters relating to the application which that additional inspector has been directed to consider;

(c) his conclusions; and

(d) his recommendations or his reasons for not making any recommendation.

(2) Where the Secretary of State determines a date by which the lead inspector is to report to him, he shall give notice in writing of that determination to the lead inspector and to all persons entitled to appear at the inquiry.

(3) Where an assessor has been appointed, he may, after the close of the inquiry, make a report in writing to the inspector in respect of the matters on which he was appointed to advise.

(4) Where an assessor makes a report in accordance with paragraph (3), the inspector shall append it to his own report and shall state in his own report how far he agrees or disagrees with the assessor’s report and, where he disagrees with the assessor, his reasons for that disagreement.

(5) When making his decision the Secretary of State may disregard any written representations, evidence or any other document received after the close of the inquiry.

(6) If, after the close of an inquiry, the Secretary of State—

(a) differs from an inspector on any matter of fact mentioned in, or appearing to him to be material to, a conclusion reached by the inspector; or

(b) takes into consideration any new evidence or new matter of fact (not being a matter of government policy),

and is for that reason disposed to disagree with a recommendation made by the lead inspector, he shall not come to a decision which is at variance with that recommendation without first notifying in writing the persons entitled to appear at the inquiry who appeared at it of his disagreement and the reasons for it; and affording them an opportunity of making written representations to him or (if the Secretary of State has taken into consideration any new evidence or new matter of fact, not being a matter of government policy) of asking for the re-opening of the inquiry.

(7) Those persons making written representations or requesting the inquiry to be re-opened under paragraph (6) shall ensure that such representations or requests are received by the Secretary of State within three weeks of the date of the Secretary of State’s notification under that paragraph.

(8) The Secretary of State may, as he thinks fit, cause an inquiry to be re-opened, and he shall do so if asked by the applicant or a qualifying planning authority in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (6) and within the period mentioned in paragraph (7); and where an inquiry is re-opened (whether by the same or a different lead inspector)—

(a) the Secretary of State shall send to the persons entitled to appear at the inquiry who appeared at it a written statement of the matters with respect to which further evidence is invited;

(b) paragraphs (3) to (6) of rule 14 shall apply in relation to the re-opened inquiry as if references in those paragraphs to an inquiry were references to the re-opened inquiry; and

(c) paragraphs (5) and (6) of rule 9 shall apply in relation to the re-opened inquiry as if references in those paragraphs to the pre-inquiry meeting were references to the re-opened inquiry.

Notification of decision

22.—(1) The Secretary of State shall, as soon as practicable, notify his decision on an application, and his reasons for it, in writing to—

(a) all persons entitled to appear at the inquiry who did appear; and

(b) any other person who, having appeared at the inquiry, has asked to be notified of the decision.

(2) Notification in writing of a decision and reasons shall be taken to have been given to a person for the purposes of this rule where—

(a) the Secretary of State and the person have agreed that decisions and reasons required under this rule to be given in writing may instead be accessed by that person via a website;

(b) the decision and reasons are a decision and reasons to which that agreement applies;

(c) the Secretary of State has published the decision and reasons on a website; and

(d) the person is notified, in the manner for the time being agreed between him and the Secretary of State, of—

(i) the publication of the decision and reasons on a website;

(ii) the address of the website; and

(iii) the place on the website where the decision and reasons may be accessed, and how they may be accessed.

(3) Where a copy of the lead inspector’s report is not sent with the notification of the decision, the notification shall be accompanied by a statement of his conclusions and of any recommendations made by him, and if a person entitled to be notified of the decision has not received a copy of that report, he shall be supplied with a copy of it on written application to the Secretary of State.

(4) In this rule “report” includes any assessor’s report appended to an inspector’s report and an additional inspector’s report appended to the lead inspector’s report but does not include any other documents so appended; but any person who has received a copy of the report may apply to the Secretary of State in writing, within six weeks of the date of the Secretary of State’s decision, for an opportunity of inspecting any such documents and the Secretary of State shall afford him that opportunity.

(5) Any person applying to the Secretary of State under paragraph (3) shall ensure that his application is received by the Secretary of State within four weeks of the Secretary of State’s determination.

Procedure following quashing of decision

23.—(1) Where a decision of the Secretary of State on an application in respect of which an inquiry has been held is quashed in proceedings before any court, the Secretary of State—

(a) shall send to the persons entitled to appear at the inquiry who appeared at it a written statement of the matters with respect to which further representations are invited for the purposes of his further consideration of the application;

(b) shall afford to those persons the opportunity of making written representations to him in respect of those matters or of asking for the re-opening of the inquiry; and

(c) may, as he thinks fit, cause the inquiry to be re-opened (whether by the same or a different lead inspector).

(2) Where the Secretary of State causes an inquiry to be re-opened—

(a) paragraphs (3) to (6) of rule 14 shall apply in relation to the re-opened inquiry as if references in those paragraphs to an inquiry were references to the re-opened inquiry; and

(b) paragraphs (5) and (6) of rule 9 shall apply in relation to the re-opened inquiry as if references in those paragraphs to the pre-inquiry meeting were references to the re-opened inquiry.

(3) Those persons making representations or asking for the inquiry to be re-opened under paragraph (1)(b) shall ensure that such representations or requests are received by the Secretary of State within three weeks of the date of the written statement sent under paragraph (1)(a).

Allowing further time

24.  The Secretary of State may at any time in any particular case allow further time for the taking of any step which is required or enabled to be taken by virtue of these Rules, and references in these Rules to a day by which, or a period within which, any step is required or enabled to be taken shall be construed accordingly.

Additional copies

25.—(1) The Secretary of State may at any time before the close of an inquiry request from any person entitled or permitted to appear additional copies of the following—

(a) an outline statement (as mentioned in rule 6(4)(b)(vi)) sent in accordance with rule 6(4)(a);

(b) a statement of case or comments sent in accordance with rule 11;

(c) a proof of evidence sent in accordance with rule 17; or

(d) any other document or information sent to the Secretary of State before or during an inquiry,

and shall specify the time within which such documents should be received by him.

(2) Any person so requested shall ensure that the copies are received by the Secretary of State within the period specified.

Sending of notices and inspection of documents

26.—(1) Notices or documents required or authorised to be sent under these Rules may be sent—

(a) by post; or

(b) by using electronic communications to send or supply the notice or document to a person at such address as may for the time being be specified by the person for that purpose.

(2) Where the relevant planning authority is under an obligation to afford to any person who so requests an opportunity to inspect and take copies of any document, an opportunity shall be taken to have been afforded to a person where the person is notified of—

(a) publication of the relevant document on a website;

(b) the address of the website; and

(c) the place on the website where the document may be accessed, and how it may be accessed.

Generating stations not within areas of relevant planning authorities

27.—(1) The modifications referred to in rule 1(3) are—

(a) in rule 2(1)—

(i) in the definition of “by local advertisement” for the words from “circulating in the” onwards substitute “which is likely to come to the attention of those likely to be affected by the consent applied for if it is given;”; and

(ii) after the definition of “person entitled to appear at an inquiry” insert—

““place” means, unless the context otherwise requires, the place to which an inquiry relates, that is, the place where it is proposed to construct the generating station, where the proposed extension will be or where the station proposed to be operated is situated; ”;

(b) in rule 9—

(i) in paragraph (5)(c) for “near to the land” substitute “that it is likely to come to the attention of those likely to be affected by the consent applied for if it is given”;

(ii) in paragraph (6)(a) for “land” substitute “place”; and

(iii) in paragraph (6)(b) delete the words “in the locality” and after the words “can be inspected” insert “, which shall be the same location or locations where, under regulations 4(2) and 8 of the Electricity (Offshore Generating Stations) (Applications for Consent) Regulations 2006(15), a copy of the application, and of the map referred to in it, can be inspected”; and

(c) in rule 20 for “land”, wherever it appears, substitute “place”.

(2) In addition to the modifications referred to in paragraph (1), where no part of the place to which an application relates is within the area of a relevant planning authority, the modifications referred to in rule 1(3) shall include—

(a) in rule 2(1) after the definition of “inspector” insert—

““interested authority” means any body upon whom the applicant has served a notice of the application in accordance with regulation 6 of the Electricity (Offshore Generating Stations) (Applications for Consent) Regulations 2006(16);”; and

(b) in rules 2(4), 11(6) and 11(13) for “relevant planning authority”, wherever it appears, substitute “interested authority”.

Revocation and transitional provision

28.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Electricity Generating Stations and Overhead Lines (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1990(17) (“the 1990 Rules”) are revoked.

(2) The 1990 Rules shall continue to apply in relation to any inquiry which commenced before the date on which these Rules come into force and for the purposes of this rule an inquiry shall be taken to have commenced on the day on which the Secretary of State issued the relevant notice under the 1990 Rules(18) of his intention to cause the inquiry to be held.