Eddie Millar is a Policy Adviser at the Royal Town Planning Institute
The back end of 2024 was chock full of planning news and reform. The revised NPPF perhaps took most of the headlines, but also announced in December were proposals for changes to planning committees and importantly, the government’s devolution white paper, which precedes the forthcoming English Devolution Bill. This paper outlined the governments plans for decentralising of powers away from Westminster.
For planning, this means universal coverage across England of ‘Strategic Authorities’ – which may consist of groups of local authorities working together until strategic authorities are implemented – who will be required to create spatial development strategies that then become part of the statutory development plan. These spatial development strategies will guide development, including housing, infrastructure, and transport (via Local Transport Plans), in a strategic manner.
This will enable local authorities to collaborate effectively to meet housing targets and infrastructure requirements. The benefit of this approach is twofold. Firstly, transport and energy infrastructure cuts across local authority boundaries. Improving coordination between local authorities helps joined-up decision making about what is needed and where.
Secondly, authorities addressing housing need in a strategic manner will allow areas with sustainable locations for housing development to help those areas with greater constraints – green belt, landscape designations, etc. – as housing targets will be cumulative across these larger regions and can be addressed collectively.
We have long called for strategic planning as a way to coordinate land uses across larger-than-local areas, and the re-introduction of strategic planning was one of our key asks within our Planifesto from last year. We recognise that strategic planning will be an important tool in helping the government meet their aims for growth across this parliament, and we’re pleased to see that steps are being taken to ensure universal strategic planning coverage.
The need for universal, mandated coverage was highlighted as a key finding of RTPI-commissioned research on strategic planning, released in August 2024. The existing fragmented approach results in a lack of certainty for public and private sector actors, harming outcomes. The research also found that clear governance arrangements, and removal of the ‘veto power’, would be vital to bolstering strategic planning efforts. To this end, the government’s intention to move towards majority voting in Mayoral Strategic Authorities is a welcome one.
Crucially, the research also found a “need to rebuild the culture, capability and capacity of strategic planning”. Many current planners have only worked under existing localism arrangements. The loss of planners who have experience working strategically means that the government will need to provide training and support and think carefully about how best to utilise existing skills and experience within the sector.
There also needs to be clarity and certainty for local authorities who will have to navigate these new governance arrangements. In October of last year, we published our proposals for a strategic planning route map. This set of proposals, pitched to MHCLG, includes examples of the information that local authorities will require around the scoping, geography, and timeframes of the introduction of strategic planning. Furthermore, the government should make it very clear what sort of support is on offer for Local Planning Authorities, both professional and financial.
The introduction of strategic planning is not without its challenges. Local authorities will require support and ongoing communication from central government throughout the process. Certainty around transitional arrangements will help ensure that delays in the local plan process are minimised.
2025 is shaping up to be another very busy year for planning. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill expected in the next few months, and there are further changes on the horizon. We are optimistic about the return of universal strategic planning, and believe it holds a lot of potential in delivering positive outcomes for communities. We hope that the forthcoming English Devolution Bill will provide the clarity, certainty, and support needed to help unlock this potential.
