Impending procedural protection #1: a greater proportion of applications being determined by planning officers
Section 54 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 enabled the Secretary of State to make arrangements by regulations that would limit the categories of applications that may be determined by planning committee rather than by officers. The power to make those Regulations has been “switched on” since 18 February 2026. MHCLG’s May 2025 technical consultation closed on 23 July 2025. We await the government’s response to that consultation and the regulations themselves.
Impending procedural protection #2: better training for planning committee members
Section 53 of the 2025 Act enabled the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying mandatory training and certification for planning committee members. This was part of that same technical consultation. Again, the power to make regulations was switched on from 18 February 2026. We await the government’s response to that consultation and the regulations themselves.
Impending procedural protection #3: written representations appeals where the local planning authority will not be able to expand upon its case following refusal
This is an important element of the changes I summarised in my 15 February 2026 blog post Don’t Be An April Fool: Written Reps Planning Appeals Are About To Get Faster But Also Riskier and applicable to appeals resulting from applications made from 1 April 2026 onwards.
I was interested to hear the discussion about what this may mean in practice for those submitting planning applications, on yesterday’s 50 Shades of Planning podcast episode Appeal Ready featuring my Town Legal colleague Lisa Tye.
Impending procedural protection #4: greater potential for call-in by the Secretary of State
As well explained by Nicola Gooch in her 6 March 2026 LinkedIn post, the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Order 2026 was made on Friday which paves the way for the government to require local planning authorities to notify the Secretary of State where they intend to refuse a planning application for 150 dwellings or more, so as to give the Secretary of State an opportunity to call in the application for his own determination (confirmed in the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the Order).
Impending procedural protection #5: (in London) greater potential for the London Mayor to call in applications for his own determination
Consultation closed on 26 January 2026 in relation to MHCLG’s Proposed London Emergency Housing Package, which includes a proposal for permanent changes to the Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008, the effect of which would be to create a new category of applications referable to the Mayor: those for the development of 50 dwellings or more where the local planning authority proposes to refuse the application. Again, we await the response to consultation and the statutory instrument which will give it effect. The government has also tabled an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill which would in due course enable the Mayor to determine by way of written representations rather than a formal hearing applications he calls in – which could free up GLA officer resources for a greater number of call-ins…
Final comment from me: Lichfields published research, Refused for good reason? in August 2018, examining what happens to applications on appeal when they are refused by members against officers’ advice (finding that 65% of such appeals were successful compared with 40% where officers had recommended refusal). Has anyone any more up-to-date statistics? Anecdotally I suspect that the delta remains at least that wide, which is why these are all important proposals.
Simon Ricketts, 8 March 2026
Personal views, et cetera
SIMONICITY 