Aisling Byrne is Senior Public Affairs Officer at the RTPI
The first five months under the new Labour Government has brought a wave of activity across the planning sector. Among the flurry of announcements, we’ve had the commitment to deliver 1.5 million new homes, a £68 million investment into unlocking brownfield sites for new homes and the Budget announcement of 300 new graduate and apprentice planners.
But there’s still more to come for the end of 2024 and going into 2025. Here’s what we’ll be watching out for in the coming weeks and months…
Government response to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation
The Government has confirmed that it will respond to the consultation they launched in summer and publish NPPF revisions before the end of the year. In our consultation response, the RTPI supported the Government’s target to build 1.5 million homes and welcomed many of the proposed changes to the NPPF including:
- rolling back the most recent NPPF changes.
- changes to national policy on providing affordable housing, giving local authorities more scope to plan for the types of homes needed within their area.
- a shift to ‘vision-led’ transport planning offering an opportunity to move away from car dependency.
We will be keen to see what revisions feature in the new NPPF, but also what plans will be in place to bridge the transition into the implementation of the new changes. The RTPI have been calling for a clear “route map” which gives an outline as to where each local authority fits into the Government’s direction of travel in strategic planning and national policy reforms. A route map would tell local authorities and other public sector bodies what they need to know about their role during this transition period and how it will impact them at different times.
Bills in 2025
The King’s Speech in July brought to attention two important Bills for the planning sector: the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the English Devolution Bill.
Expecting to be first presented to Parliament in early 2025, the Government is aiming for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to play a key role in unlocking more housing and infrastructure across the country and supporting sustained economic growth. The Bill will:
- streamline the delivery process for critical infrastructure.
- further reform compulsory purchase and compensation rules.
- improve local planning decision making by modernising planning committees.
- increase local authorities’ planning capacity.
- use development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled.
The presentation of this Bill further cements the Government’s view that the planning system and its planners are agents of change and enablers of growth.
We are also anticipating the presentation of the English Devolution Bill in 2025. The Bill will deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to transfer power out of Westminster and into local communities. Through the Bill there will be a new established framework for English devolution, making devolution the default setting and making it easier to provide devolved powers more quickly to more areas. We’ll be getting an early snapshot of policy proposals to expect in the Bill when the Devolution White Paper is published later this year.
In our Planifesto we called on the Government to ensure that Metro Mayors and Combined Authorities take and use planning powers that strengthen collaboration across housing market areas and to make it easier for these areas to take collective decisions. The presentation of the English Devolution Bill will be a positive move in the right direction, but it is essential that strategic planning is introduced as soon as possible.
New relationships and new roles
Dr Victoria Hills meeting Florence Eshalomi MP
With a new Government comes a change across Committee corridor and the RTPI’s Chief Executive, Dr Victoria Hills, recently congratulated Florence Eshalomi MP on her selection as Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. We look forward to engaging with the upcoming work of the committee and championing the role of planners in relevant inquiries.
The RTPI will also shortly be welcoming our new Head of Policy and Public Affairs, current RTPI Trustee Robbie Calvert, who will be leading the team through this exciting time for the planning sector.
