The Town & Country Planning ( Discharge of LPA Functions ) ( England ) Regulations 2026 will come into force on 31 October 2026. They set out a NATIONAL SCHEME OF DELEGATION for planning decisions which must be followed by all relevant LPAs. There are types of planning applications which MUST ALWAYS BE DELEGATED TO PLANNING OFFICERS and other types which MAY be referred to a Planning Committee or Sub-Committee for determination. They also set out a MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEMBERS who may sit on a Planning Committee.

MHCLG has, on 1 June 2026, published GUIDANCE explaining how LPAs in England should implement the NATIONAL SCHEME of Delegation of Planning Functions, scheduled to come into force on 31 October 2026.

The Planning & Infrastructure Act 2025 ( Commencement No.3 etc ) Regulations  S.I.2026/549_ bring into force, on 21 May 2026, most of Part 1 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, including provisions to extend the protection of Part 6 of the Regulations to RAMSAR SITES in England, by introducing a statutory requirement as to how such sites are to be treated when carrying out assessments under the Regulations.

A Treasury Policy Paper, published on 20 May 2026, proposes further reforms to JUDICIAL REVIEW of the above. It sets out operational mechanisms, including a House of Commons Development Consent Order.

The Planning * Wales ) Act 2026 has been enacted. It is in 15 parts, It forms part of a Code of Welsh law relating to planning. It consolidates enactments.

The Senedd’s Planning ( Wales) Bill has received Royal Assent. It CONSOLIDATES certain enactments relating to planning. See also the Planning ( Consequential Provisions ) ( Wales ) Bill.

In R ( Ocean One Hundred Ltd ) v New Forest National Park Authority (2026) EWCA Civ 492 the Court of Appeal is concerned with APPARENT BIAS and OFFICER REPORTS in in the context of a CERTIFICATE OF LAWFULNESS OF EXISTING USE OR DEVELOPMENT and its REVOCATION, pursuant to Sections 191-195 TCPA 1990, Article 24 of the TCP (GDO Procedure) Order 1995, Article 39 of the TCP (Development Management Procedure)(England) Order 2015, and common law requirements of PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS and other public law requirements, including as to giving reasons.

The purpose of section 70C of TCLA 1990 is to enable a LPA to decline to determine an application for planning permission in respect of a breach of planning control which had a pre-existing ENFORCEMENT NOTICE issued in respect of that breach. The Court of Appeal in R ( Moran ) v MEDWAY Council m( 2026  EWCA Civ 484 says that the following questions arise for consideration by a LPA contemplating the use of Section 70C : (1) whether there is such a Notice,and (2) if so, whether the applicant seeks permission for development which includes development identified as a breach of planning control in that Notice. If so then then the LPA has a DISCRETION whether to (i) decline to consider the application, or (ii) to accept it and determine it on its merits ( which does not however require a full appraisal of the planning merits).

The LGA has, on 27 March 2026, responded to the MHCLG Consultation on proposed geographies for producing across England in the context of local government reorganisation SPACIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ( SDS ).

In R ( BARBICAN QUARTER ORGANISATION LTD ) V CITY OF LONDON ( 2026 ) EWHC 687 ( Admin ) Fordham J holds that breach of the Regulation 64 of the Town & Country Planning ( Environmental Impact Assessment ) Regulations duty for functional separation did NOT have an automatic vitiating consequence for a decision in relation toa development proposal that is landowner, developer and decision-maker, where the breach of statutory duty demonstrably could have had no bearing on the decision. The  planning process would have been the same. No action would have been different.