Planning reform update: key takeaways from last week’s Government announcements

Whether they will be successful remains to be seen. There are questions over whether transparency and trust in the system will be lost whilst seeking efficiency – particularly when more planning decisions are delegated to officers, away from planning committees. 

We will continue to monitor developments and further Government announcements, which seem inevitable over the coming months. In the meantime, below is a summary of the key takeaways from last week.

More planning decisions delegated to officers?

A new consultation has been launched on proposed changes to how planning decisions are made by committees (available here). The reforms are intended to address the increasing number of cases where planning committees overturn officers’ recommendations and the advice of statutory consultees. The consultation is open for four weeks, with the Government aiming for the reforms to be in place by the end of September.

The consultation seeks views on draft Regulations and guidance underpinning the planning committee reforms introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. In particular, it covers:

1. the delegation of planning decisions to officers; and
2. the size of planning committees.

Of particular interest is Schedule 1, which sets out the categories of decisions that would be delegated. The consultation specifically asks whether reserved matters applications for phased outline permissions should, by default, be delegated unless the gateway test in regulation 5 is met, in which case they would be referred to committee. The Government’s position is that the vast majority of these decisions should be delegated.

In relation to committee size, the Government proposes a maximum of 13 members.

The “New Towns” shortlist gets shorter!

The Government has announced seven proposed locations for new towns as part of its housebuilding programme:

• Tempsford, Bedfordshire — up to 40,000 homes centred on a new East West Rail station, linking Cambridge, Oxford, London and Milton Keynes
• Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield — up to 21,000 homes
• Leeds South Bank, West Yorkshire — up to 20,000 homes
• Manchester Victoria North, Greater Manchester — at least 15,000 homes, regenerating the city centre with a new Metrolink stop
• Thamesmead, Greenwich — up to 15,000 homes, unlocking riverside land supported by a proposed Docklands Light Railway extension
• Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc, South Gloucestershire — up to 40,000 homes
• Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire — an expansion of around 40,000 homes alongside city centre regeneration and a new local transport system

These new towns would benefit from assistance from the Government if they are taken forward. This includes funding, delivery expertise and policy support. Advice may include delivery vehicle set up and New Towns Planning Policy (to sit aside the NPPF). This new Policy is expected to be published later this year and include both plan-making and decision-taking policies.

The Government describes this announcement as the first step in its New Towns Programme and is now seeking views on the proposed locations. Final locations and recommendations from the New Towns Taskforce are expected in the summer. The consultation (available here) closes on 19 May 2026.

How to prepare your Local Plan within 30 months …

New guidance has been published to support local planning authorities (LPAs) in adopting a new local plan within 30 months. The intention is that this new process will speed up the plan making system and also make it more transparent to third parties looking in.

Crucially, a “Getting ready” period has been introduced which doesn’t count towards the 30 months. That period will only start when the LPA passes through the self-assessment known as Gateway 1 when it can show that it is ready to start plan making and has a timetable in place for how it will achieve a new plan within 30 months. All LPAs must pass through Gateway 1 within 5 years of adoption of their previous local plan.

We await further detailed guidance and new Gateways 2 and 3 but essentially they are a check in with PINS to resolve any potential soundness issues and then a final check by PINS ahead of examination, respectively.

The aim of the Gateways is to speed up progress towards examination in a transparent (and therefore, more accountable) manner.

Planning application fee consultation

The purpose of this consultation (available here) is to ensure that LPAs are properly funded so that they are able to play their part in housing delivery. It is acknowledged by the Government that there is currently a gap between fees income service costs.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 introduced new powers for local fee setting which will enable LPAs to set their own planning application fees through a local variation model. Under this approach, a national default fee will remain in place and apply to all LPAs, unless an LPA chooses to vary from the default fee for any or all application fee categories to reflect their own costs recovery needs. 

The current proposals are to:

1. establish a new national default fee schedule, based on 90% of estimated costs, to bring planning fees to a level closer to cost recovery and act as a baseline from which a new local fee setting model will operate
2. introduce new fees and restructure existing fee categories in order to reduce complexity for users
3. implement a surcharge on planning fees for statutory consultees, set in the region of 10% of the national default fee
4. establish the key principles behind local fee setting, as well as seek views on the potential to implement a cap on locally set fees
5. review the future role of discretionary services such as Planning Performance Agreements and pre-application advice in light of proposed increases to default fees and the introduction of the local variation model

Consulting the Secretary of State on planning decisions

This consultation (available here) concerns 3 proposals to require LPAs to consult with the Secretary of State on certain planning applications. This is separate to the Government’s announcement of its intention to issue a new direction requiring consultation with the Secretary in respect of applications for 150 houses or more which the LPA is minded refusing.

The 3 proposals are:

1. for new consultation requirements where LPAs are minded refusing planning permission for commercial development with a floorspace of 15,000m2 or more
2. for new consultation requirements where LPAs are minded refusing certain applications relating to nuclear facilities
3. for a requirement to consult the Secretary of State whereby applications for planning permission for residential development within a Defence Detailed Emergency Planning Zone where the Office for Nuclear Regulation and / or a Local Authority’s Emergency Planning Team has made (and not withdrawn) an objection, where the LPA are minded granting permission. This requirement would have a limited geographical extent (4 LPAs).

The consultation closes on 4 May 2026.