Reform of planning committees: consultation response

This consultation response sets out our views on the government’s proposed reforms to planning committees and schemes of delegation. Whilst we welcome efforts to improve consistency and transparency in planning decision‑making, we argue that the proposed two‑tier national delegation model is too rigid and does not reflect the nuances of development in county and rural areas.  

We stress that planning decisions—particularly in dispersed and diverse geographies—require local discretion, democratic accountability and the ability to consider specific local impacts. We support aspects of the reforms, such as nationally-administered training and capped committee sizes, but warns that several proposals risk undermining local democracy and public confidence.

Our response puts forward the following arguments to government:

• A national two‑tier delegation system is overly simplistic and fails to capture the significance of small‑scale rural developments.  
  ‍
• Minor residential and commercial applications in county and rural areas can have major local impacts and should not automatically fall under delegated powers.  
  ‍
• Democratic oversight is essential: many applications refused under delegation would be approved at committee due to local considerations.  
  ‍
• The CCN supports a gateway mechanism allowing Tier A applications to be brought to committee.  
  ‍
• The CCN supports national training, with flexibility for councils to provide additional local training.  

Recommendations include:

• ‍Replace a national delegation scheme with strong national guidance enabling locally determined delegation frameworks.
  ‍
• If implemented, allow all Tier A applications to be referred to committee via a gateway test.
  ‍
• Move minor residential and commercial applications to Tier B.
  ‍
• Permit councils to run local training alongside national certification. Ensure committee size regulations are developed in partnership with planning authorities.