House of Lords Second Reading Briefing

Overview

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) champions the art and science of planning, working for the long-term common good and wellbeing of current and future generations and representing over 27,000 members across both public and private sectors. 

The RTPI is very supportive of the Government’s devolution agenda, being taken forward through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill and Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB). This includes proposals for national coverage of strategic authorities, who will produce the spatial development strategies (SDSs), as set out in the PIB, as well as the devolution of planning powers to mayors. These changes will hopefully provide much needed spatial vision and strategic coordination across local authorities. Patterns of development, employment and transport span across local authority boundaries, and up until now, areas without devolution deals have not been able to benefit from strategic-level ambitions that often align more closely with these patterns.

The RTPI recognises that this Bill sits as part of a wider programme of local government and planning reform and we look forward to working closely with stakeholders in responding to the associated regulations and guidance, supported by our members who will be fundamental through the transition period and into its implementation. 

Effective scrutiny of this Bill will be critical to the impact and effectiveness in ushering in a new era of regional empowerment, growth and identity. In advance of the Second Reading debate on 8 December 2025, this briefing sets out the RTPI’s assessment of the Bill and opportunities for Peers to refine and enhance the provisions, supporting the Government’s ongoing planning reforms. 

The RTPI has prepared drafted amendments on the areas of the Bill we believe can be strengthened which can be read in further detail here: 

1.     A duty to consider the needs of rural communities and the establishment of rural affairs commissioners, where appropriate. 

2.     Evidence mayoral collaboration through the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy. 

3.     Strengthen leadership through statutory chief planning officers.

4.     Ensure neighbourhood governance structures contribute to a plan-led system. 

5.     Commissioners to operate a place-based approach, working collaboratively. 

We would also encourage Peers to consider ensuring that an equal rollout of spatial development strategies across the country is prioritised, and the support needed by strategic authorities to ensure this.

A devolved system that works for rural England

85% of England’s land area is classified as rural, with 17% of the country’s population living in these areas. In 2022, predominantly rural areas of England contributed an estimated £315bn in gross value added (GVA) to England’s economy, representing 16.2% of England’s total GVA. Rural areas have specific challenges and requirements, and we need to ensure that these communities get the fair representation, strategic investment, and support needed to thrive.

Whilst we agree that drawing provisions from the Greater London Act is the right approach, the Bill needs to go further in ensuring that measures aren’t urban-centric and different contexts across the country are considered. To address this, we are proposing a “duty to consider the needs of rural communities” and provisions to allow for a rural affairs commissioner. To do so, an additional area of competence should be added to Clause 2, to allow for a rural affairs commissioner to be appointed where deemed appropriate. 

Facilitate regional collaboration

The mayoral duty to collaborate in Clause 22 of the Bill allows for mayors of neighbouring strategic authorities to make and respond to requests for collaboration. This collaboration should relate to an area of competence, and should benefit the “economic, social or environmental wellbeing” of residents. We support the intention for collaboration across strategic authorities to tackle cross-boundary issues, however, in its current form, we believe the criteria for such collaboration requires further detail to be effectively evidenced and operationalised. 

To this end, the RTPI have been reiterating the need for provisions for a National Spatial Framework. This would act as an overarching framework to align and coordinate strategies and plans across sectors at a national scale, accounting for planning’s unique cross-sectoral position and its ability to act as a coordinator. The Government has recognised the importance of such an approach, particularly within the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, which sets out the intention to produce national spatial priorities and also sets out the role of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), supported by the new national infrastructure spatial tool, as well as place-based business cases. Therefore, this provision can be strengthened through compelling authorities to have regard to the relevant infrastructure strategies in place, such as the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy when requesting collaboration. 

Strengthen devolution through effective local leadership

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. 

Proposals from Government for a new national scheme of delegation places chief planning officers as integral to decision-making on delegation alongside Planning Committee conveners. 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, therefore the existing need to see strong 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. It is vital that local authorities and strategic authorities have a clear planning structure and that the chief planning officer be empowered to manage resource and training needs across planning functions, with their role being placed on a statutory footing through the inclusion of a “Chief Planner” clause. 

Helping communities set a vision for their place

The Bill sets out in Clause 60 a requirement for local government to establish new neighbourhood governance structures. These structures intend to bring communities closer to decision-making. Reasserting our support for a place-based approach, we believe that these structures should encourage communities to build visions and strategies for the long-term development of their areas, moving beyond a sole focus on public service delivery.  

To achieve this there should be a clear legislative link between proposed neighbourhood governance structures and the preparation of local plans and SDSs. We note with concern the removal of funding towards neighbourhood plans and therefore we encourage the Government to take the opportunity to better frontload community engagement in a plan-led system. RTPI commissioned research suggests innovative techniques such as citizen assemblies, which can be used to facilitate in-depth participation further along in the preparation process of SDSs. 

Putting "place" at the heart of decision-making

The shift of power from central to local government fundamentally reframes our thinking nationally to focus on the needs of specific places. A place-based approach is a collaborative and holistic method of establishing the unique characteristics of areas and tailoring interventions to address local needs, and will therefore be fundamental to the success of devolution. This approach is at the forefront of how planning and planners operate and will be further supported by SDSs, but we want to ensure that the rest of the legislation promotes and embeds these ambitions. 

The Bill states that Mayors can appoint commissioners relating to the areas of competence outlined in Clause 2, however, we do not believe these should be viewed in isolation, given their intersecting remits. The Bill should be amended to encourage commissioners to operate a place-based approach and ensure that commissioners across different areas of competence work collaboratively to meet the needs and drive positive outcomes for specific places as a whole.

Ensuring strategy underpins new powers

The RTPI firmly believes that mayoral planning powers are most appropriately exercised where a mayoral combined authority has a SDS in place. This is because the SDS represents the spatial vision of the area, combining priorities around infrastructure, housing, growth, transport, nature, and energy. The SDS should guide decisions around development and land use, to ensure that decisions made fit into the overall vision for the area. 

We retain some concerns that the legislation as drafted does not require mayoral authorities to have the SDS in place to use relevant powers including charging CIL, calling in applications of strategic importance, and the creation of mayoral development orders and mayoral development corporations. We would like a clearer link between the primary legislation and regulations to come further down the line requiring authorities to have an SDS in place to access mayoral planning powers. 

Likewise, mayoral authorities will be required to produce Local Growth Plans (LGPs), and public bodies will be required to have regard for them, but we believe that the alignment between these LGPs and SDSs is made clearer. The devolution agenda will have impact on economic development through facilitating and guiding investment into the right areas at the right scale. Strengthening the link between SDSs and LGPs should address how shared priorities are decided, how both plans inform each other, and how they relate to the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and the Mayoral duty to collaborate. 

We need all areas to be supported to prepare an SDS so they can get access to the full suite of planning and revenue generating powers. While not every combined authority will progress with their SDS preparation at the same rate, this should not lead to places falling behind and the exacerbation of existing regional inequalities.