English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Overview

At the Royal Town Planning Institute (the RTPI), we champion the value of planning in building thriving places and communities. With over 27,000 members across public and private sectors, we empower planners to deliver positive impact: creating healthy, inclusive, economically and environmentally sustainable places. As the voice of the profession, we advocate, support, and lead with purpose, professionalism, and passion.

The RTPI supports the Government’s devolution agenda, in particular the recognition of the role strategic planning will play in supporting the devolution of planning powers to strategic authority mayors. Effective scrutiny of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will be critical to its impact and effectiveness in ushering in a new era of regional empowerment, growth and identity.

In advance of Report Stage debates on the Bill, we have prepared a briefing setting out the amendments the RTPI would encourage Peers to support, to enhance provisions and aid the delivery of the Government’s ongoing planning reforms.

Duty to consider the needs of rural communities – Amendment 310 tabled by Baroness Royall

The RTPI firmly supports the amendment tabled by Baroness Royall which will place a duty on strategic authorities and their mayors to have regard to the needs of rural communities when carrying out their functions.

Rural communities play a vital role in the prosperity of this country, with predominantly rural areas of England contributing approximately 16.2% of England’s total gross value added to the England economy in 2022. Rural areas also make up a large proportion of England, with 85% of the country’s land area being classified as rural and 17% of the country’s population living in rural areas.

It is essential that this programme of devolution is designed to include and bring prosperity to all communities, and with that intention the Bill needs to consider the unique and specific needs and opportunities of rural communities. For rural communities to thrive through devolution, they need to have fair representation and strategic investment which supports rural growth.

As it stands, the Bill runs the risk of leaning towards an urban-centric approach to devolution, with many provisions drawn from the Greater London Act. The risks of the current programme of devolution have also been identified in a report commissioned by the Rural Housing Network, which noted the likelihood of English devolution in its current form creating a postcode lottery whereby some rural areas benefit from devolution-driven investment whereas others’ needs are overlooked. Baroness Royall’s amendment ensures that different contexts across the country are more thoroughly considered within the Bill and provides a safeguard to ensure that Mayors and strategic authorities are considering rural communities in their decision-making. We also support amendments which recognise “rural affairs” as an area of competence within the Bill.

Statutory chief planners – Amendment 307 tabled by Lord Best

The RTPI has long advocated for the role of chief planners to be put on a statutory footing in local planning authorities and with the addition of Lord Best’s amendment, this role would be represented in all local and strategic planning authorities. With the impending programme of devolution and the implementation of a new plan-making system, as noted in the RTPI’s response to the most recent Government consultation on the proposed National Planning Policy Framework, there has never been a greater need for clear leadership and authority within local and strategic authority planning teams. This is particularly concerning considering more than a quarter of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) that responded to our State of the Profession 2025 survey stated that their authority does not have a chief planning officer in place to oversee planning operations. Chief planning officers are a critical part of the democratic process, being best placed to provide impartial professional advice to elected members and build the critical relationships necessary for smooth local decision-making and democracy. 

The preparation of spatial development strategies (SDSs) by new strategic planning authorities will underpin the success of devolution, as a key tool to identify strategic investment, opportunities for collaboration cross boundary, and infrastructure need. The impending programme of devolution and local government reform will likely create larger teams covering larger geographies and co-operating with newly emerging strategic authorities, and therefore the existing need for professional, accountable leadership in the planning system will be magnified. There is also a need for local planning authorities to have an organised and meaningful input into the production of SDSs, and the chief planner role will be critical in ensuring this happens.

The chief planner role is vital in overseeing plan-making and development management functions and, if represented at the corporate level through statutory footing, there will be a greater opportunity for chief planners to drive an integrated vision for sustainable growth. We fully support the inclusion of the chief planner amendment in the Bill to ensure that the devolution programme is supported by clear and accountable leadership within the planning system.

Government amendments relating to commissioners

The Government has tabled amendments to raise the number of commissioners appointable by a strategic authority mayor to 10, and changes to ensure a commissioner’s work can relate to one or more aspects of an area of competence, rather than having to relate to every aspect of an area of competence. The Minister has stated that these amendments are intended to support the appointment of commissioners dedicated to cross-cutting issues, such as rural matters. The RTPI supports changes to the work of commissioners which encourages and enables them to work on cross-cutting issues, particularly those relating to rural affairs. We would also encourage commissioners to work in a place-based manner, with collaboration across competencies, to more effectively tackle these cross-cutting issues.