While it is early days, further planning reform is already high up on the new Labour government's agenda.

The King's Speech opened the first session of the new parliament and set out forty bills, in pursuit of a 'decade of national renewal'. It includes at least five that will affect the planning system and we look at those below.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

We do not know when this will be brought forward and currently clues to what it might cover are contained in the King's Speech background briefing. The majority of this bill is expected to apply to England and Wales. Some measures may also apply to Scotland. It will aim to "accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure delivery" by:

  • Streamlining the delivery process for critical infrastructure by simplifying the consenting process for major infrastructure projects, introducing new National Policy Statements (NPSs), and a new five yearly review process to allow NPS' to be updated
  • Further reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules to seek fair compensation to landowners "but not excessive where important social and physical infrastructure and affordable housing are being delivered"
  • Improving local planning decision making and increasing LPAs' capacity to improve performance by modernising planning committees, and to provide a more predictable service to developers and investors
  • Using development to fund nature recovery where these are currently stalled by working.

With nature delivery organisations, stakeholders, and the sector "over the summer" to determine the best way forward. Legislative changes may follow, if, this "will deliver positive environmental outcomes".

The five-year review process of NPS reflects the recommendation put forward by the National Infrastructure Commission. The focus on LPAs indicates an increased preference for devolution as signalled by the proposed English Devolution Bill, see below.

This proposed bill is in addition to the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which is due later this month. That had an immediate revision to unlock onshore wind development in England.

There appears to be a real attempt to respond to an ailing planning system. It is early days and the exact mechanisms to be used to introduce changes remain to be seen. It will be interesting to see what changes are included in the revised NPPF due before the summer recess, in advance of the bill.

Great British Energy Bill

This bill will extend and apply UK-wide and will establish a new Great British Energy production company, to:

  • Develop, own, and operate clean power projects, investing in partnership with the private sector
  • Facilitate, encourage, and participate in the production, distribution, storage, and supply of clean energy.

The creation of a publicly owned Great British Energy is an interesting parallel to the government's plans for the railways.

While the focus on the public sector is central to Labour policy, the practical impacts on procurement, investment and development are far-reaching and present both opportunities and obstacles.

How this bill might interact with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is of particular interest. Grid connection is a complex issue for Labour to solve and a decisive approach is needed.

High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill

The existing bill is to be repurposed to:

  • Deliver on the commitment to improve rail connectivity in the north of England at pace
  • Support the ambitions of local leaders to address the productivity gap.

The new government made clear it is not reversing the decision to cancel the second phase of HS2.

This bill will instead provide powers to construct and operate rail projects which improve east to west connectivity across the north of England. The repurposed bill may be an indication of the priorities of wider incoming transport policy. The Bill will extend and apply GB-wide.

The Crown Estate Bill

This bill plans to modernise The Crown Estate so it can manage public assets more effectively by:

  • Granting The Crown Estate the power to borrow enabling it to borrow from the Exchequer will free up these reserves for new projects, particularly critical for accelerating the pace of offshore wind deployment
  • Widening The Crown Estate’s existing investment powers to support wider government policy objectives, such as digital technologies to support wider objectives in offshore energy development and port infrastructure.

Aside from its generation of income for the Government, a key role of The Crown Estate is their stewardship of the seabed of England and Wales.

The ability to borrow will allow The Crown Estate to increase activity in offshore wind projects, electricity interconnectors, telecommunication cables, and carbon capture infrastructure.

It will be interesting to see how this then interacts with Great British Energy and to an extent the recently launched National Wealth Fund.

English Devolution Bill

The majority of the measures in this Bill will extend to England and Wales and apply to England.

It establishes a framework for further English devolution to give local leaders the tools needed to drive growth by:

  • Putting a more ambitious standardised devolution framework into legislation with enhanced powers over strategic planning, local transport networks, skills, and employment support. New powers and duties for local leaders to produce Local Growth Plans
  • Making devolution the default setting, devolved powers, without the need to negotiate agreements, where they meet the governance conditions
  • Making it easier to provide devolved powers quickly to more areas through establishing a simpler process for creating new Combined and Combined County Authorities
  • Empowering local communities with a strong new 'right to buy' for valued community assets, such as empty shops, pubs, and community spaces.

The focus on generating policy and disseminating decision-making powers to the regions appears to be central to the new government's strategy.

Also proposed is the Better Buses Bill which will remove barriers that currently limit bus franchising powers only to metro mayors and "put power over services back in the hands" of local leaders.

The ambition to increase local government activity must be matched by increased spending power to ease financial pressures. The Autumn budget will be decisive in backing up Labour's plans.

Jonathan Bower, partner in the Planning and Infrastructure team at WBD comments:

"These bills are a part of a wider plan to create economic stability and growth. It will be interesting to understand the government's intentions where they have signalled that they propose "further reform[ing] compulsory purchase compensation rules".

Amending legislation, brought forward by the previous government came into force at the end of April 2024. An acquiring authority, when submitting a CPO for confirmation, may now include a direction that the prospect of planning permission is ignored. This applies only to land for a specified number of affordable housing units, or for educational or health uses.

By stating that it may go "further", I understand the government is signalling that it will add other "social and physical infrastructure" to the categories of CPO where Councils (or other acquiring authorities) have new powers to use compulsory purchase to acquire land without accounting for any 'hope value' in the compensation payment to the landowner. In other words, where compensation can exclude any element of land value attributable to the prospect of "no scheme world" development. This is likely to be hotly debated. Having advised on the drafting of some of the CPO reform measures in the Levelling Up And Regeneration Act 2023 we are looking forward to seeing these changes with interest".

If you have any queries on any matters touched on in this briefing do not hesitate to contact us, or your usual WBD contact.

If you interested to hear more about what the new Labour government could change in the world of planning? Why not listen to our election podcast here

(*) Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

This article is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice.