Part 6: Planning in England Planning permission etc Section 153: Planning applications that may be made directly to Secretary of State
This section expands sections 62A and 62B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 under which: (a) local planning authorities may be designated for not adequately performing their function of determining applications for major development; and (b) the developer may choose to make an application for major development directly to the Secretary of State where the authority has been designated.
	The amendments allow the Secretary of State to designate a local authority for its performance in determining applications for categories of development described in regulations made by him (which could now include a separate category of non-major development). The developer may then choose to make an application for development of that description directly to the Secretary of State. The amendments also allow the Secretary of State to provide that certain applications may not be made directly to him under section 62A. For example, if a local planning authority was designated for its performance in determining non-major applications, it may be appropriate for certain minor applications to continue to be dealt with at a local level.
	Subsection (4) is an unrelated amendment which simply removes reference to conservation area consent, as this was abolished in England by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.