To ask the Minister for Infrastructure, in respect of the Planning Forum, to detail (i) membership; (ii) purpose; (iii) the number of meetings held; and (iv) outputs thus far.

The Planning Forum membership is made up of the main statutory consultees. It is chaired by a Deputy Secretary with responsibility for DfI Planning, and its other members include senior staff from DfI Regional and Strategic Planning Directorates; DfI Roads & Rivers; NI Water; DfC Historic Environment Division; DAERA Environment, Marine & Fisheries; DfE Geological Survey of NI and the NI Housing Executive.

The purpose of the Forum is to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning system by agreeing, prioritising and monitoring the implementation of recommendations and actions which emerged from the report into the role of statutory consultees in the planning process, which was completed in 2019. The Forum also monitors the performance of central government statutory consultees in relation to live major planning applications and takes forward any other related tasks identified.

The Forum meets broadly on a quarterly basis and it has now had three meetings since its inception in December 2019. In addition to the establishment of the Forum itself, actions completed include a review of resourcing for statutory consultations within DfI Rivers; and ensuring that the requirements for effective monitoring and reporting of statutory consultations have been included within the specification for the new regional IT system. The Forum will continue to work through a number of areas which involve looking critically at existing practice, procedures and resources with a view to finding ways to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning process.