LGA says modelling shows proposed planning fee increase is not enough
Plans to increase planning fees by 35% will not be enough to prevent a significant national shortfall or solve capacity issues in the sector, the Local Government Association has warned.
The Government's technical consultation on increasing planning fees to reduce the funding shortfall for the planning application service proposes a 35% increase in fees for major applications and 25% for all other applications.
But the LGA says its modelling shows that in order to ensure all councils in deficit are able to balance the books, fees would need to be increased by 57%.
It said the 22% shortfall highlights the need for councils to have flexibility to set fees at a local level to cover their individual costs.
Research from the Royal Town and Planning Institute published in November 2022 suggested that 90% of local planning authorities were experiencing a backlog of planning enforcement cases amid resourcing issues.
According to the LGA, 305 out of 343 local authority planning departments operated in a deficit totalling £245.4m in 2020/21.
There is also a significant challenge in resourcing local planning authority teams, with councils across England struggling to recruit and retain planners and more than a quarter of authorities seeing teams shrink since last year.
Cllr Linda Taylor, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “We recognise there are some resource concerns in council planning teams and while we are pleased the Government is looking to increase fees, we are concerned that the proposed uplift in planning fees fails to future-proof the sector and ensure planning departments can continue to enable the delivery of housing targets, including the affordable homes and infrastructure that the country needs."
Cllr Taylor added: “Councils must have the flexibility to set planning fees at a local level to cover their costs relating to planning, which could include the employment of qualified planners. This would put councils in a stronger position to address the issue of resourcing in the planning sector.”
Adam Carey
