Government confirms new local plan-making system to launch in early 2026

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has also announced that the ‘duty to cooperate’ is to be removed.

In addition to the 30-month process, which is aimed at “providing a clear end-to-end framework for creating and adopting local plans”, the changes will see a three-gateway system with checkpoints at Gateway 1 (scope and strategic priorities), Gateway 2 (draft plan), and Gateway 3 (readiness for examination).

There will also be digital-first requirements with standardised data formats and user-friendly digital tools.

The MHCLG has issued new guidance for local authority plan-makers on the early stages of local plan making in the new system.

The Ministry also said it would soon publish the first edition of the Procedure Guide for Local Plans prepared and examined under the new system.

To allow “a smooth transition”, both the existing and new systems will run in parallel throughout 2026. Local planning authorities can submit plans under the existing system until 31 December 2026.

Currently, fewer than a third of local planning authorities have up-to-date local plans, the Ministry noted.

In a written ministerial statement on the new system, Pennycook said: “The plan-led approach is, and must remain, the cornerstone of our planning system. Local plans are the best way for communities to shape decisions about how to deliver the housing and wider development their areas need. In the absence of an up-to-date plan, there is a high likelihood that development will come forward on a piecemeal and speculative basis, with reduced public engagement and fewer guarantees that it will make the most of an area’s potential. It is for these reasons that the level of up-to-date plan coverage we inherited is so problematic.

“As a government, we have made a clear commitment to achieving universal local plan coverage. To that end, we have been clear that we intend to drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible. That is why we introduced transitional arrangements for emerging plans in preparation as part of the changes we made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December last year, and why we have recently awarded over £29 million in funding to 188 local planning authorities to support the rapid preparation of plans that reflect that updated Framework.

“However, the current system is optimised neither for speed nor for community participation. The government is therefore clear that more fundamental reform to the system is needed to ensure that local plans are faster to prepare and simpler for end users to access and understand.”

The new system – provided for by the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 – does not include the ‘Duty to Cooperate’, which requires local planning authorities to “engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis” with neighbouring authorities whilst preparing their local plan.

“This requirement will also be removed for plans examined in the existing system, to help drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible,” the MHCLG said.

In a letter to Planning Inspectorate chief executive Paul Morrison, Pennycook said: “….the Duty as a legal provision has, at times, been difficult to comply with and has led to some notable local plan failures. This is in part because any shortcomings relating to the Duty cannot lawfully be remedied during examination.”

The minister added that the new system would rely on revised national policy and the new tier of strategic planning to ensure effective co-operation between plan-making authorities.

He added: “The Duty will therefore cease to apply when the Regulations come into force early next year, including for plans at examination at that point. On the basis of the government’s firm intention to abolish the Duty for the current system, examining Inspectors may wish to begin any necessary dialogue with LPAs in advance of the Regulations coming into effect, with reference to this letter.”