Government consults on geographies for spatial development strategies but districts express concern at potential exclusion from new breed of Strategic Planning Boards

The Ministry has also invited expressions of interest from local authorities without an existing devolution agreement to be part of a new wave of Foundation Strategic Authorities.

In a letter to all council leaders, mayors, and chief executives, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Devolution, Faith and Communities, and Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, said that once provisions in the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 are commenced – “which is expected to be in the summer” – places would be required to produce a spatial development strategy (SDS).

The ministers wrote: “For parts of the country currently without mayoral devolution, we have set out that SDSs need to be developed across ‘sensible geographies’ in line with the principles of the English Devolution White Paper.

“Today we are launching a consultation on what these sensible geographies might be. In some places, there is already broad agreement on them, and we have indicated these in the consultation. In other places, we do not believe there is a consensus view yet, and so we are seeking proposals from you that align with the ‘sensible geography’ criteria in the White Paper.”

Fahnbulleh and Pennycook added that where SDSs are not coterminous with Strategic Authorities, the formal mechanism for areas to work together on their SDS will be a Strategic Planning Board (SPB), which will be established through secondary legislation.

“We will undertake statutory consultation prior to establishing these boards, alongside more detailed engagement and discussion with relevant authorities,” they said.

“This is expected to take place in the spring for most areas, but there may be an opportunity to move ahead with this more quickly where there is clear agreement, in which case MHCLG officials will be in contact with authorities about the details of an SPB during the consultation period.”

The consultation closes on 26 March 2026.

In relation to Foundation Strategic Authorities (FSAs), Fahnbulleh and Pennycook said: “Given our belief that sensible strategic planning and devolution geographies will, in the vast majority of cases, be one and the same, the development of SDS footprints is also an opportunity to agree the shape of devolution geographies for areas currently without a Strategic Authority.

“The government is therefore inviting these places to come forward with expressions of interest for the establishment of new FSAs, which must meet the criteria in the English Devolution White Paper and therefore should, typically, align with SDS geographies.

“As you would expect, we are also working across government to ensure this approach aligns with other reform programmes affecting public service boundaries, including the current Review of Police Structures.”

FSAs will have devolved powers over local transport and skills, as well as being responsible for delivering the area’s SDS where the SDS boundary is coterminous with the FSA, the letter noted.

There are then a further set of powers and partnerships available to FSAs – the full FSA offer is set out in Devolution Framework at Section 3.10 of the English Devolution White Paper, the ministers said.

The letter added: “While we recognise the demands that delivering reorganisation places on local authorities, we do not see that as a barrier to conversations about the establishment of FSAs and how to devolve powers to unleash local growth.”

However, the announcements have met with an angry response from the District Councils’ Network (DCN), which claimed that the “exclusion of planning authorities from strategic planning defies sense”.

The DCN said: “Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook [has] announced the rollout of strategic planning boards, which will prepare the spatial development strategies that will plot housing and infrastructure growth beyond the boundaries of individual councils.

“In areas without mayoral strategic authorities, responsibility will lie with county councils – which do not have large planning functions – and unitary councils. There is no requirement for district councils to be represented on the new boards.

“District councils are planning authorities with statutory responsibility for taking decisions on the vast majority of planning applications. District council planning committees offer a democratic mechanism for elected representatives to shape places, reflecting the views of local communities.”

The DCN noted that decisions are yet to be taken on council boundaries for nearly all areas undergoing local government reorganisation “and the new structure will not be implemented for several years”.

Cllr Richard Wright, Chair of the District Councils’ Network, said: “While we support the reintroduction of strategic planning, it’s vital that the councillors and officers who best know communities are able to feed into the process if we’re to make the right decisions on where new homes and infrastructure are situated.

“It defies common sense to exclude planning authorities, with their longstanding local expertise and knowledge, from a full role in strategic planning. In some places it could lead to the bizarre outcome that strategic planning boards include no planning authorities.

“For as long as district councils exist, they should have an automatic seat at the table of strategic planning boards so the views of local communities can be represented democratically.”

He added: “The danger is that top-down decision-making leads to local people being cut out from vitally important decisions. Sidestepping local planning departments excludes the people who best know how to overcome the barriers to new housing and infrastructure, and work with communities to get development underway.

“The Government wants local government reorganisation to bring greater clarity in local decision making. However, the latest planning reforms run a high risk of undermining the cooperation required to make a success of reorganisation and to deliver the homes our communities need.”

Cllr Andrew Husband, Housing and Planning Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, meanwhile said: “The County Councils Network (CCN) has long argued that to deliver the varied types of housing and infrastructure that local areas both need and want, we needed to ‘scale up’ the planning system. Today’s announcement puts the wheels in motion for the return of strategic planning and is an important milestone.

“Many CCN members have put in a significant effort with neighbouring local authorities to ‘lock in’ their strategic planning geographies and are ‘ready to go’ to implement these new Spatial Development Strategies once the relevant legislation enables them. For those places where discussions and geographies have proved to be more complex, it is important that the government is opening the process up for consultation, rather than imposing a top-down approach."

Cllr Husband added: “Bearing in mind the government has chosen to delay mayoral elections until 2028 for those on the Devolution Priority Programme – and by implication has slowed down the process for other areas – it is important counties will be allowed to set up Strategic Planning Boards ahead of strategic authorities being created. 

“For CCN’s members, the hard work will now continue. County and unitary councils are determined to make a success of these powers and to build development meets their local areas’ housing needs. It will therefore be vital that measures to better capture infrastructure funds are introduced by this government, alongside ensuring that many of the proposed planning reforms in the National Planning Policy Framework are a help rather than a hindrance.”