Levelling Up Committee to examine Government planning policy reforms

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee is to examine the Government’s current consultation on reforms to national planning policy, “looking at the proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the Government’s wider approach to planning reform”.

The LUHC Committee’s scrutiny of the reforms to national planning policy is expected to open with an evidence session with planning, local authority, and housing stakeholders.

This evidence session is likely to be scheduled in March, after the deadline (on 2 March) of the Government’s consultation.

The committee is expected to examine the Government’s proposed changes to the NPPF, the approach to developing National Development Management Policies (NDMPs), and other proposals for planning reform resulting from the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.

Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, said: “The Government’s consultation on reforms to national planning policy raises a series of issues into areas such as NDMPs and how they might affect the primacy of local plans as well as questions around local housing need, the stated commitment to the housing target, and how this is supported by local plans.

“We are already hearing that the uncertainty of what the planning system will look like, and the state of flux over recent years, is now having an impact on planners, councils and developers.

“A host of housing and other planning issues, including planning for on-shore wind, are affected by the consultation. We look forward to hearing the views of local councils, housebuilders, planners, and other interested parties, on the Government’s proposed policies and how they might affect planning and housing provision across England.”

Last week it was revealed that at least seven local authorities have paused the passage of their local plan, citing the Government's consultation.

The flurry of postponements came as a result of the Government's proposed planning law reforms that suggest making it clearer that the standard method for housing need is an "advisory starting-point" and that councils are not required to review Green Belt boundaries if this would be the only way to meet their housing targets, among other changes.