Planning committee changes to be introduced following national reforms

Blaby District Council has been required to change when councillors decide planning applications as new national planning rules come into force this autumn.

The changes, agreed at the authority’s Full Council meeting on 22 September, follow the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which introduced a national scheme of delegation for planning decisions in England from 31 October 2026.

Under the new rules some types of planning applications, such as those for extensions, small developments of up to nine homes or minor commercial developments, will have to be decided by planning officers rather than by planning committee. These will be known as schedule one applications.

All other application types will be schedule two, these include major applications or those for listed buildings, which will only be decided by Planning Committee if they meet new tests.

Only applications that raise concerns about economic, social or environmental issues, or one of more significant planning matters, will be heard by planning committee members. It will be a decision of the Council’s Chief Planning Officer and Chair of Planning Committee to discuss the suitability of an application to be heard at committee.

The national scheme designed by government will also remove the ability for local councillors to ‘call in’ planning applications in their area.

Councillors and communities will still be able to comment on planning applications, while also inputting into the Local Plan process to decide how the District grows.

Full Council agreed to accept the national changes and amended the Council’s constitution to ensure planning decisions are legally sound, transparent and consistent with the new national scheme.
Guidance warns that, from 31 October 2026, planning decisions made by committees when the regulations specify they should be delegated to officers may be vulnerable to legal challenge.

Updating the constitution will help protect the Council’s decision-making process and reduce the risk of decisions being quashed.

Councillor Mike Shirley, Blaby District Council’s portfolio holder for Planning and Strategic Growth, said: “These changes are being introduced across England, so it is important that we adopt them and change the constitution to ensure our planning decisions remain lawful.

“While the process for how some decisions are made will change, residents, communities and councillors will still be able to comment on applications and raise local issues as part of the planning process.”