Planning applications that comply with local development plans could “bypass planning committees entirely”, Government proposes

Announcing the changes today, the Secretary of State for Local Government, Angela Rayner, said the reforms would help streamline the planning system and tackle "chronic" delays she said were plaguing the system.

According to a policy paper published alongside Rayner's statement, the Government is mulling three different proposals designed to facilitate faster delivery of homes.

The main proposals, which would require changes to primary legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, include:

1. A national scheme of delegation – "bringing clarity and consistency to everyone about which applications get decided by officers and which by committees";
2. Dedicated committees for strategic development – "allowing a dedicated and small group of councillors to dedicate energy to the most significant projects"; and
3. Training for committee members, to require that councillors undertake appropriate training before they can form part of a planning committee".

The policy paper set out three potential options for a national scheme of delegation, all of which involve delegating decisions to planning officers to some extent.

The first option would require decisions to be delegated to a planning officer where an application complies with the development plan – for instance, when the application is for development on an allocated site in line with plan policies or in line with a design guide.

The second option would involve delegation to a planning officer as default, with exceptions for departures from the development plan.

Under this plan, all applications must be delegated to officers unless the application is a departure from the development plan and is recommended by officers for approval or the application has been submitted by the local planning authority, its members or officers.

The third option would again require all applications to be delegated to officers. However, the national scheme of delegation would set out a prescriptive list of application types to be determined by committees to provide certainty to applicants from the start.

The policy paper also detailed the proposals for dedicated committees on strategic development.

The proposals would introduce a requirement that local authorities set up committees to focus on strategic development where such development is planned in their area.

"Such committees would take ownership of strategic development applications and build expertise using local knowledge and understanding of planning issues", the paper said.

These committees would operate in addition to the main planning committee and would focus only on those developments that are critical to supporting local economic development and local housing need, according to the paper.

The Government said it may take forward "any or all" of the proposals and that it will consult on any proposals that it decides to advance.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: "Building more homes and infrastructure across the country means unblocking the clogged-up planning system that serves as a chokehold on growth. The Government will deliver a sweeping overhaul of the creaking local planning committee system.

"Streamlining the approvals process by modernising local planning committees means tackling the chronic uncertainty and damaging delays that acts as a drag anchor on building the homes people desperately need."

Alongside the proposed reforms, the Government is this week expected to confirm sweeping changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) following a consultation launched in July.

Commenting on the reforms, Ben Standing, a partner specialising in planning and environmental law at Browne Jacobson, warned that any changes to the planning system "must be complemented by a dedicated drive to adequately resource planning authorities".

He added: "Their inability to call upon this resource is bringing the planning system to a gridlock and prevents councils from regularly updating local plans, which is why only a third have a plan that is under five years old.

"Long-term local plans provide certainty to communities and investors over the future roadmap in each area. If these are created after proper consultation with local people, there's a greater chance of bringing communities on board with new housing developments rather than a feeling being fostered that projects have been imposed against local will.

"This is a vital consideration given that in a recent Net Zero and Local Democracy report published by the Local Government Information Unit and Browne Jacobson, we found that the risk of successful challenge to new environmental measures is greater if local residents feel they haven't been listened to, and the same is true with housing."

Adam Carey