Currently each individual council decides which planning applications are referred to planning committee and which applications are decided by the chief planning officer on behalf of the committee. The criteria is set out in the “ council’s scheme of delegation” which councillors review annually. This has always meant that councillors have been able to oversee the full process of every planning application, even household applications, and those that may be controversial or have an impact on a ward, could be referred to the planning committee for further scrutiny. The downside to this level of scrutiny is that it can elongate the decision making process by months and can costs developers and individual applicants large costs.
As from October 31st 2026 this system will change. The scheme of delegation is being applied by national government and every council will have the same decision making process. A lot more applications will be decided by the chief planning officer rather than by planning committee and the right for councillors to “call-in” applications will be removed. On the one hand this should speed up the decision making process and provide developers and applicants more consistency and certainty of decisions within a set timeframe and therefore lessening costs. However, the downside is it means less involvement from local individuals and communities that may wish to express a view on a planning application. It also means that councillors will have less input into the planning decision making for their area.
In light of these changes, we would advise councillors and community groups to start to get involved in the development of their local plan, as this is a good way to hep provide councils with your opinion on the way your local area should be developed. For those of you that are interested in how houses will be delivered in your local area or how to protect green spaces from development, then this is for you. The simple way of doing this is via the internet. In your search engine plug in your town and put “planning policy consultation”. If your community group or councillors need some assistance in engaging with the process then please do contact us at Brighton Planning and we can set up an initial advice call.