You need to keep contractual lines of responsibility clear and distinct from each other.
Firstly, what are your obligations to the Employer in respect of planning conditions? If you have any they should be stated in the Works Information in your ECC with the Employer. If there are non then neither you or your designer have an obligation fulfil them and you would need a PMI (clause 14.3) and CEN (clause 61.1) from the PM to carry out any work in relation to them.
You say the novation agreement doesn't mention planning discharges so on what basis is your designer saying you have accepted them in your contract? My question is how did the statement you made in tender clarifications find it's way into your contract? Clause 12.4 is an entire agreement clause so statements made during the tender are not automatically included in the contract and are not binding on you. If it was agreed that you would discharge planning conditions then this should have been included in the Works Information prior to the Contract Date.
One of your main obligations in the ECC is to Provide the Works in accordance with the Works Information (clause 20.1) so unless someone can point to a part of the Works Information that states you are required to discharge any planning conditions, then you are not obligated to do so.
It isn't clear if the PSC that the Consultant had with the Employer included in the Scope an obligation for them to discharge planning conditions? Even if it did, that PSC is now effectively a subcontract in your ECC and so the answer is still the same, if the obligation is not in your Works Information you are not obliged to do it.
Novation is not a concept used in NEC contracts as the process does not follow the principles of good management practice and often leads to problems as is demonstrated by your current predicament.
Firstly, what are your obligations to the Employer in respect of planning conditions? If you have any they should be stated in the Works Information in your ECC with the Employer. If there are non then neither you or your designer have an obligation fulfil them and you would need a PMI (clause 14.3) and CEN (clause 61.1) from the PM to carry out any work in relation to them.
You say the novation agreement doesn't mention planning discharges so on what basis is your designer saying you have accepted them in your contract? My question is how did the statement you made in tender clarifications find it's way into your contract? Clause 12.4 is an entire agreement clause so statements made during the tender are not automatically included in the contract and are not binding on you. If it was agreed that you would discharge planning conditions then this should have been included in the Works Information prior to the Contract Date.
One of your main obligations in the ECC is to Provide the Works in accordance with the Works Information (clause 20.1) so unless someone can point to a part of the Works Information that states you are required to discharge any planning conditions, then you are not obligated to do so.
It isn't clear if the PSC that the Consultant had with the Employer included in the Scope an obligation for them to discharge planning conditions? Even if it did, that PSC is now effectively a subcontract in your ECC and so the answer is still the same, if the obligation is not in your Works Information you are not obliged to do it.
Novation is not a concept used in NEC contracts as the process does not follow the principles of good management practice and often leads to problems as is demonstrated by your current predicament.