Part 6: Planning in England Local Planning Section 144: Power to give direction to examiner of development plan document
Section 144 inserts a new subsection (6A) of section 20 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Section 20 requires local planning authorities to submit development plan documents to the Secretary of State for independent examination and sets out the purpose of the examination and the recommendations that the person appointed to carry out the examination may make.
	New subsection (6A) enables the Secretary of State to direct the appointed person to ‘suspend’ the examination, to consider specified matters, to hear from specified persons, or to take other specified procedural steps. Directions are given by notice to the appointed person.