Construction minister Mark Prisk has said the government will reduce the number of hoops that developers must jump through before beginning construction

Prisk was responding to a review into non-planning development consents carried out by Adrian Penfold, British Land鈥檚 head of planning. He said the coalition would implement a 鈥渙ne in, one out鈥� approach, whereby a new regulation could only be introduced if an old one were scrapped. Other regulations will be reviewed, with an update to be published in the spring.

Prisk said: 鈥淲e must stop putting obstacles in the way of British businesses. They will be the driving force behind our economic growth.鈥�

Penfold鈥檚 recommendation for conservation area consent to be merged in with the planning system has been accepted, as well as merging various water consents in to the Environmental Permitting framework.

However, the government has rejected his call for the separate regimes for listed buildings and scheduled monuments to be combined. The government鈥檚 response said: 鈥淚n the absence of legislation to create a new heritage protection system, we will work with English Heritage to ensure that the existing heritage consent regimes operate as effectively and efficiently as possible.鈥�