The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 introduced measures to reform planning committees in England. The measures include a national scheme of delegation for planning functions and a cap on the size of planning committees.  Here, we take a closer look at the Government's proposals which are due to come into force in England on 31 October 2026.

The National Scheme of Delegation is intended to introduce greater clarity and consistency in the role of planning committees in decision-making.

The approach is centred on a two-tiered structure of delegation. This will be underpinned by two distinct Schedules:

Schedule 1 – Applications to be Determined by Officers (Mandatory Delegation)

Applications within this Schedule will always be delegated to officers and will not be considered by planning committees. These include:

• Householder applications
• Minor commercial and minor residential applications
• Reserved matters applications (limited to non-phased schemes)
• Applications for non-material amendments (Section 96A)
• Applications for the discharge or approval of conditions
• Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Plans
• Prior approval applications (including Permitted Development matters)
• Lawful Development Certificates
• Certificates of Appropriate Alternative Development
• Permission in Principle applications
• Section 106 modification/discharge applications linked to Schedule 1 approvals

Schedule 2 – Applications Delegated by Default (Subject to 'Gateway Test')

Applications within Schedule 2 will be delegated to officers as a default position. However, they may be referred to planning committee where both the nominated officer (typically the Chief Planner) and the nominated Member (typically the Chair of Committee) agree that the application meets the statutory “gateway test” criteria.

These include:

• Listed building consent applications and associated development
• Major planning applications falling outside 'minor' categories
• Section 73 and Section 73A applications
• Reserved matters for phased developments
• Advertisement consent and tree preservation order applications
• Reviews of mineral planning conditions
• Applications submitted by or on behalf of the local authority, members or officers

In addition, the Government proposes that certain application types such as medium-scale residential development (10–49 dwellings) would fall within Schedule 2, should this category be formally adopted through the emerging National Planning Policy Framework.

Key Implications

• The overarching presumption is that Schedule 2 applications will also be determined under delegated powers unless there is clear justification for committee referral.
• Referral to committee will require both the gateway test to be met and agreement between the nominated officer and Member.
• Existing local practices—such as Member call-in powers or automatic committee triggers based on objection thresholds—will be removed, with authorities required to align their constitutions accordingly.
• Certain application types not expressly included within either Schedule will be determined locally in accordance with each authority's constitution.

The guidance also highlights potential practical implications, including the treatment of phased reserved matters applications and the possibility of relatively straightforward schemes being referred to committee where the gateway test is triggered. This may necessitate further refinement as the proposals evolve.

The Government's announcement sets out the timescales for this coming into existence.

“We are writing to provide a critical update regarding the radical reshaping of the planning application process in England. On 1 June 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published its finalized statutory guidance: Planning Committees and the National Scheme of Delegation of Planning Functions.

Implementing the core mandates of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, this framework establishes a definitive implementation deadline of 31 October 2026.

The final text introduces immediate strategic changes for your active and upcoming development pipelines.

1. The Hard Deadline and Judicial Review Risks

Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) have less than five months to overhaul their local constitutions. The guidance explicitly clarifies that if an LPA fails to align its governance by 31 October 2026, any planning decision subsequently made by a committee that should have legally been delegated to an officer will face immediate risk of Judicial Review and being quashed.

2. Elimination of Localized "Call-Ins"

The era of arbitrary committee referrals is ending. Traditional triggers—such as a specific volume of public objections or an automatic ward councillor "call-in"—are now legally void.

• Schedule 1 Applications: Minor commercial schemes, householder extensions, and minor residential developments are strictly reserved for officer-only determination.
• Schedule 2 Applications: Mid-to-major schemes can only reach a committee if they pass a newly established "Gateway Test." This requires mutual, structured agreement between the Chief Planning Officer (CPO) and a single nominated committee member.

3. Key Policy Finalizations (Post-June 1st Changes)

The final framework resolved several critical areas that remained uncertain during the draft legislation phase:

• Reserved Matters (RM) Tightened: Reserved Matters applications are now strictly ringfenced for officer delegation (Schedule 1) unless the underlying outline scheme exceeds 500 dwellings or 50,000 square metres of commercial floor space. Mid-sized layout and scale approvals will no longer face committee delays.
• Section 73 Variations Streamlined: Section 73 applications for minor material amendments are now legally tethered to their original permission category. If your original scheme was an officer-delegated matter, any subsequent S73 variation remains automatically protected from committee interference.
• The Stand-Off Default: If the CPO and the nominated committee member deadlock during a Schedule 2 Gateway Test, the guidance mandates that the application defaults to officer delegation. The balance of power has decisively shifted away from elected committee blocks.

4. Downstream Operational Impacts

While the new 13-member cap on committee sizes will streamline physical evening meetings, the immediate threat is administrative gridlock. LPAs are scrambling to build internal "triage systems" to process these Gateway Tests. We anticipate short-term processing delays leading up to November as councils restructure their departments.

Strategic Next Steps

In light of this tight transition window, early professional engagement with officers is more vital than ever. We are actively reviewing how these rigid delegation tiers affect your specific site strategies.”

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact our team.