We are told by our MP that the planning decision on the RWE Npower Renewables application for wind turbines, named Brechfa Forest East, due to come to you this summer, will be decided, after the IPC process, by the UK Minister for Communities and Local Government.
Can you please confirm, or not, that this is the case?

Thank you for your query which I presume relates to Brechfa Forest West which is due to be submitted to us this summer. Brechfa Forest East on the other hand we understand has been submitted to Carmarthenshire County Council (as it's below the threshold for nationally significant infrastructure projects).
Under the current system either the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change or the IPC will decide whether or not to grant a Development Consent Order for the Brechfa Forest West proposal. The Government is publishing National Policy Statements (NPSs) relating to the types of infrastructure that the IPC examines. These provide the framework within which the IPC will make its recommendations or decisions on applications for development consent. NPSs are considered by Parliament before being formally adopted for use or ?designated?. If a relevant National Policy Statement(s) is designated, the IPC will make the decision within a maximum period of 3 months. If a relevant NPS(s) has not yet been designated, the relevant Secretary of State will be the decision maker. The IPC will submit a report of recommendation to the Secretary of State for consideration who will then have up to a further 3 months to issue the decision. At present, none of the NPSs have yet been designated.
With regard to who will determine nationally significant infrastructure projects such as Brechfa Forest West in future, the Coalition Government is bringing forward new legislation that will change the decision making process. It is anticipated that this change will take effect in April 2012. The legislation needed to make this change, the Localism Bill, is currently before Parliament. If the relevant provisions in the Localism Bill become statute and are brought into force they would also, amongst other matters, provide that the decision-maker in all cases would be the Secretary of State.
For energy applications the relevant Secretary of State will be the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. If this happens by the time that the Brechfa Forest West application has been examined by the IPC and reached the decision stage, the IPC will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who will then take the decision. Since the Brechfa Forest West application is not due to be submitted to the IPC until the summer of this year, it would seem likely for the Localism Bill to have been enacted by the time it reaches the decision stage and consequently for the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to be the decision maker.
Consideration of the Brechfa Forest East proposal by the County Council will not be affected by these changes.