New amendments to the Government's Planning Bill have been laid in Parliament to strengthen the scrutiny of national policy statements by the House of Lords, and tackle climate change.

The changes provide a key new role for peers in scrutinising all national policy statements including those for aviation, nuclear power and renewable energy, and there is now a legal duty on the face of the Bill for National Policy Statements to show how they will mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The Planning Bill is crucial to tackling the two biggest issues the country faces today, ensuring our economy is resilient in the tough competitive global climate and delivering new green infrastructure vital for the leap to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

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Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears said: "With climate change now firmly implanted in this bill it really will deliver, in a more democratic system, the low carbon economy we need to move to.

"We have improved the Bill at each stage and listened to constructive ideas from MPs and Peers.

"The Planning Bill will give local people three chances to have their say instead of just the one now, decisions will take less than a year, and save our economy up to £300m each year by preventing unnecessary delays. That is why I'm urging all sides of the House to back the Bill."

Government figures also show that enough renewable energy to power one and a half million homes, equivalent to three cities the size of Sheffield, or every home in Birmingham, is currently clogged up in the planning system.

Without this Bill a bureaucratic and slow planning system will continue to stall many vital infrastructure projects. For too long people's fuel bills have been overly dependent on fluctuations in the price of oil and imported gas which is why more British based green energy is needed now to increase energy supply and security.

One third of Britain's electricity generating capacity needs replacing, but currently only 5% of our electricity comes from renewable sources.

(CD/JM)