A new red tape busting review to weed out bureaucratic hurdles and create a more efficient planning service for the public and business, has been launched by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, Business Secretary John Hutton and Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint.

Major reform to the planning system is already underway to give communities a greater say in a faster decision making process for large infrastructure projects. This review will look at the next challenge of improving the planning application process from start to finish to make it even more user friendly.

Local authorities have significantly improved their speed at handling applications, with 75% meeting their performance targets, up from 25% in 2001. However, there are still slow and cumbersome parts of the process that the Government wants to tackle, from unnecessary paperwork to delays after permission has been granted.

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New investment to empower local people to use the planning system to shape their communities has also been announced. Planning Aid funding is being doubled to £3.2 million this year, to enable more people to benefit from free independent advice to help them comment on proposals, make representations at inquiries, or submit a good planning application.

The review 'Planning Applications: a faster and more responsive system' will examine what can disrupt the progress of an application from when it is submitted up to and beyond when a decision is made, and will be carried out by Joanna Killian, Chief Executive of Essex County Council and David Pretty, former Group Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC.

It will make recommendations for improving the process, but importantly it will not seek to shift the balance of decision making, weaken important safeguards, or reduce public consultation.

Housing & Planning Minister Caroline Flint said: "People often say they find the process of getting planning permission confusing and bureaucratic. By modernising the system and using new technology we can save everyone time and money and deliver the kind of effective and responsive planning service people deserve."

(CD/JM)