Diolch, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to present these regulations to the Senedd for approval. These regulations make amendments to existing legislation that requires a fee to be paid to the local planning authority upon submission of planning and related applications. The purpose of the fees is for local planning authorities to recover their costs for determining these types of applications.

The current fee levels were previously updated in 2015. Since then, various legislative policy and procedural changes have occurred as well as inflation. As a consequence, the current fee levels are moving local planning authorities further away from cost recovery. However, a balance needs to be struck that will allow local planning authorities to recover more of their costs without discouraging potential applicants from engaging in the planning system by significantly raising fee levels. 

The amendments made by these regulations will increase fees by approximately 20 per cent across the board, with certain exceptions. I believe that this increase strikes the correct balance and benefits both local planning authorities and potential applicants. These regulations also introduce a fee to determine applications for certificates for appropriate alternative development. This is to ensure that local planning authorities are able to cover their costs against the time and resource required to determine such applications that do not currently attract a fee.

I consider that these amendments will benefit all parties involved in the planning application process by enabling local planning authorities to improve their service delivery to applicants by issuing timely and better quality decisions. Diolch.