Four councils refuse to adopt constitutional changes required for national scheme of delegation for planning decision-making

The four local authorities have taken the decisions in spite of officer advice and, in one case, despite a warning from the monitoring officer regarding a Section 5 report.

The National Scheme of Delegation in England is a standardised framework set to take effect on 31 October 2026 under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. It introduces uniform rules on which planning applications are decided by officers and which are referred to planning committees.

The Government introduced the scheme as part of efforts to streamline the planning system.

However, Fenland, Central Bedfordshire, Tameside and Bolton Councils have all refused to update their constitutions to reflect the changes over concerns the scheme undermines local democracy.

During a full council meeting on Monday (19 October), members at Fenland District Council voted unanimously against the changes, despite recommendations from officers.

An officers' report informed members that the new scheme would apply irrespective of any decision taken by the council. However, without the constitutional amendments, the council risks not having the necessary arrangements in place for officers and members to assess whether an application should be referred to the planning committee, the report added.

Applications that should be considered by a planning committee are known as Schedule 2 applications under the new scheme.

The report said: "Without an agreed gateway process, the Council would be unable to determine if applications should be referred to Planning Committee.

"This would create a significant risk of delay to Schedule 2 applications which are larger and complex by their nature which may lead to procedural challenge and applications to the Planning Inspectorate for non-determination.

"In this instance, it may be necessary for officers to put in place the necessary arrangements for the Council to be legally compliant."

Commenting before the meeting, Fenland's leader, Cllr Chris Boden, said the new rules represented an "erosion of democratic decision-making".

He also warned that the changes would have a significant impact on residents' ability to have issues affecting their communities considered by elected representatives.

Earlier this month, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council also refused to amend its constitution, despite a warning from monitoring officer Janet Witkowski of a section 5 report ahead of the vote.

She advised that until the constitution is amended to comply with the new legislation, "the council cannot lawfully make planning decisions" and any decision made outside these requirements "is unlawful and may be subject to judicial review and could be quashed by the court".

She added: "In the event that the decision to approve the recommendation is not reached today, I will have to consider what action as monitoring officer that I may need to take under section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989."

Central Bedfordshire Council, meanwhile, voted against officers' recommendations to adopt the constitutional changes during a full council meeting on 24 September.

Following the vote, the council's monitoring officer informed members that the "legislation is the legislation", adding: "We do not have the powers as a council to override legislative change that is a matter for Parliament and Parliament has decided that it wants to impose these rules.

"So in effect, the result of the decisions tonight is that we will not be changing the constitution to reflect the rules, but the rules will none-the-less operate."

Councillors at Bolton Council similarly refused to approve amendments to the constitution to reflect the planning changes on 7 October.

Commenting on the trend, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that where councils have not adopted the constitutional amendments, planning officers will still be able to take decisions in accordance with the new scheme.

The spokesperson said: "These reforms come into force on 31 October and councils will need to comply with the new rules.

"Where committees do not comply, decisions can continue to be taken by planning officers in line with the national scheme."

Adam Carey