• Improve certainty and decision-making in the planning system through:
  • Allowing Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) (including the Mayor of London) to set their own planning application fees at a level that reflects the costs of carrying out the relevant decision-making functions; 
  • Directing income from planning fees towards the delivery of planning functions; 
  • Introducing a national scheme of delegation that will set out the types (and potentially thresholds) of applications that should be determined by Planning Officers, and which should be considered at Committee; 
  • Issuing statutory guidance in relation to limiting the size of Planning Committees; and
  • Requiring the mandatory and constituent training of Planning Committee members. 

• Introduce the framework for strategic planning through:
  • Requiring combined authorities (both mayoral and non-mayoral) and groupings of upper tier authorities (i.e. county councils and unitary authorities) to produce a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS), the scope of which will be kept at a strategic level to preserve the role of individual Local Plans. 

• Reforming the compulsory purchase regime through:
  • Allowing LPAs to acquire property where it is unoccupied and there is no known owner and/or the property is in serious disrepair ahead of statutory timelines;
  • Switching the current Basic Loss and Occupiers Loss rates around - meaning property owners will now receive 2.5% of market value (capped at £25,000) and Occupiers Loss payments now set at 7.5% (capped at £75,000);
  • Revoking payments from those who have allowed their dwellings to fall into disrepair or have not complied with relevant legislation;
  • Allowing the digital service of notices whereby parties have agreed beforehand; and
  • Discounting compensable Hope Value for schemes relating to affordable housing, educational and health development, and parties will only be able to claim for existing use or development value where there is existing planning permission.

• Strengthen the role of Development Corporations (DCs) through:
  • Enabling greater flexibility for DCs in terms of the variety, extent and types of the geographical areas over which they can operate;
  • Align the legislative framework around DCs so that they contribute to sustainable development and climate change objectives; 
  • Widening their remit to oversee sustainable transport projects and energy infrastructure delivery.

• Introducing a strategic approach to nature recovery through: 
  • Establishing a Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) which is to be made up of contributions from developers through a Nature Restoration Levy (NRL);
  • Directing funding from the NRL to Natural England (or another designated delivery body) to bring forward Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), which will set out the strategic action to be taken to address the impact development may have on a protected site or species. Where an EDP is in place and utilised by a developer, it would not be necessary to undertake site specific assessment or deliver project-specific interventions. 
  • Affording Natural England greater powers, including the compulsory purchase of land for conservation purposes, and the strengthening their monitoring adn enforcement of environmental commitments.

• Require the reporting on environmental outcomes through: 
  • Amending the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 to enable international obligations to be met under the new forthcoming system of Environmental Outcome Reports (EORs).

• Accelerate the consenting regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) through:
  • Requiring National Policy Statements (NPSs), which set the policy framework for major infrastructure projects, to be updated at least every five years to ensure that infrastructure planning is aligned with legislative changes, government policy and relevant Court decisions; 
  • Simplifying the requirements for pre-application consultations and the “acceptance” stages for Development Consent Orders (DCOs); 
  • Enabling the Secretary of State to redirect major projects onto an alternative consenting route, such as the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; and
  • Streamlining the judicial review process so that it is harder for unmerited legal challenges to slow down the progress of NSPs and NSIPs.

• Promote energy infrastructure reform through:
  • Moving from a “first come, first served” model, to a “first ready, first connected” approach which prioritises grid connections for the most viable projects;
  • Supporting Long-Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) through an Ofgem administrated “cap and floor” scheme which is intended to encourage investment in energy storage;
  • Applying financial credits to the accounts of eligible billpayers living in properties closest to electricity transmission network infrastructure, to help strengthen the community acceptability of these projects; 
  • Extending the generator commission period for offshore wind farm projects from 18 to 27 months, which will support the transfer of these assets by developers; and
  • Amending the Forestry Act 1968 to allow for the use of forestry land for the generation, transmission, storage and supply of electricity from renewable sources.

• Promote transport infrastructure reform through: 
  • Amending the Highways Act 1980 to introduce statutory deadlines for Secretary of State decision stages, establish powers for temporary land possession, and enable cost recovery for statutory consultees and local authorities that provide highways related advice; 
  • Amending the Transport and Works Act 1992 to enable cost recovery for statutory consultees and local authorities when dealing with applications, introduce statutory deadlines for the determination of applications, and make general changes to streamline multiple processes;
  • Reforming the Harbour Orders process, to improve cost recovery for the Marine Maritime Organisation (MMO); and
  • Streamlining street works approvals to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. 

Our Planning, Regeneration + Infrastructure (PR+I) team will be monitoring the progress of the Bill through Parliament and in particular will be considering whether the provisions, as initially set out, will in fact result in the anticipated delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure, or rather may present new obstacles in the face of existing industry challenges.

Should you wish to learn more about the Bill at this early stage, please contact a member of our PR+I team below.