Aisling Byrne, Senior Public Affairs Officer at the Royal Town Planning Institute

How does the Bill relate to planning? 

There are several key pieces of planning related policy and legislation that are currently in motion across Government and Parliament. Many of these are interconnected, with provisions coming through one, which are impacted by provisions yet to come through another.  

The EDCEB is one of these key moving parts. Whilst the Planning and Infrastructure Act saw the reintroduction of strategic planning through provisions for the creation of spatial development strategies (SDSs), the EDCEB introduces a new devolution architecture for England, including a new category of “strategic authorities” which will be tasked with the preparation and delivery of SDSs.  

The EDCEB will also extend the Mayor of London’s development management powers to all strategic authority mayors. These powers will include a duty on local planning authorities to consult the mayor on applications of potential strategic importance, which the mayor can then intervene on by either directing a refusal of the application, or taking over and determining the application themselves. Strategic authority mayors will also have the power to make a mayoral development order, where the mayor can grant upfront planning permission for a strategic development in their area 

Provisions in the EDCEB will connect with emerging policies, such as the proposed new National Planning Policy Framework and SDS guidance, along with the Planning and Infrastructure Act to help implement the new plan-making system and subsequent development management powers that come through this new system. 

House of Lords Committee stage 

The Bill is currently still going through the House of Lords Committee stage, being conducted as a Grand Committee. This means that Bill debates in Grand Committee are happening simultaneously with other debates in the main chamber. Voting is also not allowed in Grand Committee, so all decisions must be made unanimously, with only Government amendments tending to get unanimous agreement.  

So far, we’ve heard debates around two of the key areas for amendment that the RTPI have been supporting and advocating for – increased provisions to protect the needs of rural communities, and statutory chief planners in all local authorities and new strategic authorities. 

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon has tabled two RTPI supported amendments relating to rural affairs, adding it as an area of competence to the Bill and creating a duty to consider the needs of rural communities. As Baroness Royall noted in her speech, the Bill draws many of its provisions from the Greater London Act, therefore increasing the need to safeguard and ensure that measures being brought forward are not purely urban-centric in their approach, but consider varying contexts across strategic areas, including those with significant rural populations. 

Lord Lansley, a champion of the statutory chief planner amendment during the Planning and Infrastructure Act, is further advocating for the inclusion of statutory provisions for this role in legislation through the EDCEB. Lord Lansley highlighted that “the need for a statutory chief planner role is, if anything, increasing”, with the straightforward argument that the planning profession is instrumental to accelerating housing delivery and growth. Lord Lansley demonstrated support from across the sector, quoting some of our stakeholders and members in his speech. Full detail on Lord Lansley’s speech including member and stakeholder quotes can be found in our post here. 

Both sets of amendments received support from Peers across the House, with recognition from party spokespeople of the key importance of the inclusion of the amendments. As voting cannot take place at this stage, we await the House of Lords Report stage where we anticipate these amendments will be re-tabled for Peers to vote and decide on their inclusion within the Bill.