The Planning (Wales) Act and associated Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Wales) Act bring together decades of existing legislation and amendments into a single bilingual statute, tidying up the current confusion about which bits apply in England and Wales, and which bits are England only.

The new legislation will make some important changes to clauses and terms we have become used to using for decades. Various parts of the legislation that you’re used to referring to such as S.106 agreements will have a new name due to their new location in a new Act, and a few terms will change, for example ‘material considerations’ will become ‘relevant considerations’. But don’t worry. The Act helpfully includes a table of ‘destinations’ allowing users to easily see where key parts of the legislation are now located. It also includes a list of definitions of key terms at Section 408 of the Act.

Since our October update, the (Act)Bills have made good progress through the Senedd’s scrutiny process:

• 28 November - the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee published a supportive Initial Committee Consideration report;
• 19 January - all Government amendments were agreed. No non-government amendments were tabled;
• 10 March - the Planning (Wales) Bill and Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Wales) Bill were approved by the Senedd. The votes for both bills were 52 in favour and zero against;
• 27 April - the Planning (Wales) Bill and Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Wales) Bill become Acts

Now that the Bills have been approved, there’s a statutory four-week period during which the Counsel General or the Attorney General may refer either Bill to the Supreme Court. If this period passes without a referral, the Bills will be presented for Royal Assent from His Majesty, King Charles III, and impressed with the Welsh Seal by the First Minister, meaning the Bills become Acts. This has happened and the Bills are now Acts.

For the Acts to take effect and become the new primary legislative framework for planning in Wales, they must be commenced. Commencement is currently anticipated to be 18 months after Royal Assent. This will be subject to agreement by the next Government.

RTPI Cymru is heavily involved with the Planning (Wales) Bill and the Senedd, this page highlights the most recent changes and actions with the Planning (Wales) Bill and the RTPI's thoughts and responses to them.