A new “accelerated planning service” for major commercial applications would include a 10-week time limit on decision making in return for a premium planning fee to cover the costs.
The government set out its plans in a consultation document published yesterday to coincide with the Spring Budget.
If the target determination time is not met, the fee will be refunded in full.
However, developments subject to environmental impact assessment are excluded from the 10-week service.
Under the proposal, all local planning authorities will be required to offer the accelerated service – down from the 13-week statutory time limit – for schemes which create 10,700 sq ft or more of new or additional employment floorspace. This would include offices, storage and warehousing, retail, general industry, research and development, light industry and advanced manufacturing. Mixed-use developments which meet the employment floorspace criteria would also be eligible to use the accelerated service.
From July to September, only 21% of major applications were decided within 13 weeks. Local planning authorities determined 1,640 major commercial applications in the year to September 2023, an average of five per authority.
The new premium fee would be a percentage of the normal planning application fee, so the applicant would pay the normal planning application fee plus the fee uplift. Planning fees are set centrally by government and cannot exceed the cost of providing that service. This system will continue, so government is seeking views on what the percentage fee uplift should be.
Local authorities will be required to set up efficient casework systems; ensure validation teams, lawyers and internal expertise are on hand; and, where relevant, convene planning committees on time.
The plan to bring in an accelerated system was announced by the chancellor in the Autumn Statement last year in a bid to address an under-resourced and failing planning system.
The 10-week time frame will be used as “the trigger point for when appeals can be made against non-determination and for monitoring the performance of local planning authorities”, the consultation document says. It will seek views on whether applicants should be able to choose for themselves whether to use the accelerated service – or whether it should be mandatory for certain categories of development.
Applications using the accelerated service will be subject to the same statutory requirements for publicity and consultation and will be determined on the same basis as other major applications. “There would be no loss in scrutiny or special consideration for these applications,” the document stresses.
The new service could be extended to other types of major development, including housing, the document says. “But we want to ensure the service works for commercial development before any extension is made, given that there are significantly more residential applications and often a larger number of matters to be considered with these types of applications,” it says. The government says it also wants to hear views on whether EIA developments should be covered by an accelerated service offering a guaranteed decision before the 16-week statutory time limit.
The consultation is open until 1 May. It follows the recent increase in planning fees and the launch of the £29m Planning Skills Delivery Fund to try to address the under-resourcing of local planning authorities.
The Spring Budget also flagged a new pilot scheme which will use artificial intelligence to help speed up the development of local plans. In addition, new software will be explored to streamline key processes for planning officers.
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