Minister for Housing and Planning (): It is essential that
local planning authorities (LPAs) have the resources and skilled
planners they need to provide a proactive, efficient planning
service for local communities and support housing delivery,
economic growth and the provision of infrastructure. Yet we know
that planning departments across the country are experiencing
challenges with resourcing, recruitment, retention, and skills
gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative
impact on service delivery.
That is why the government is investing heavily to boost local
planning department capacity and capability. At the Autumn Budget
2024, the Chancellor announced a £46 million package of
investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for
2025-2026. At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor
announced a further £48 million of investment over three years to
support local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop
skilled planners over a sustained period.
However, we recognise that more must be done to better resource
LPAs and drive better outcomes including faster determination
times, improved service standards and stronger performance across
the planning system. To address local planning department
underfunding, we included in the Planning and Infrastructure Act
powers that allow the Secretary of State to delegate planning
fee-setting to local planning authorities, enabling them to
recover costs and reinvest to provide a more efficient and
responsive planning service.
To inform the implementation of this local variation model, the
government consulted earlier this year on a new national default
fee schedule, based on 90% of estimated costs, and the wider
framework for local fee setting.
I am today publishing the government's response to that
consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
The response confirms that the government will proceed with a
national default fee based on 90% of estimated processing costs,
providing a significant uplift in resources for local planning
departments and establishing a robust national baseline ahead of
the introduction of local fee setting powers. The regulations
required to increase national planning application fees have been
laid today.
The national default fee will remain in place and apply to all
LPAs, unless an authority chooses to vary from the default fee
for any or all application fee categories to reflect their own
costs. Regulations and guidance for local fee setting will be
taken forward in due course.
To justify a variation in fees, LPAs will need to evidence that
the national schedule does not cover their costs. Having
considered the feedback received, we have decided that LPAs
should be able to set planning fees up to a maximum of 30% above
the national default fee. This strikes an appropriate balance
between supporting local flexibility and cost recovery, while
providing applicants and developers with greater certainty about
the extent of local fee variation.
We recognise that a small number of LPAs may face exceptional
cost pressures that cannot reasonably be addressed within this
limit. Where this the case, LPAs will be able to consult the
Secretary of State with a view to providing robust evidence to
justify a proposed fee level above the 30% cap. The operation of
the cap, including the use of the approval mechanism and
intervention powers, will be subject to further policy
development and set out through future regulations.
Taken together, these changes will enable LPAs to secure the
funding necessary to strengthen their capacity, invest in skilled
staff, and deliver a more efficient, high-quality planning
service, helping to unlock growth and accelerate the delivery of
new homes.
It is vital that increased fees translate into improved
performance. We will continue to monitor the speed and quality of
LPA decision-making and will take action where performance does
not meet expectations. We also intend to review the performance
regime to identify opportunities to strengthen it further and
drive sustained improvements.
Finally, we intend to undertake a further consultation before the
end of the year on the detailed design and implementation of the
proposed planning fee surcharge, including how it should operate
in practice and be linked to improved performance of statutory
consultees.
