England's new national planning rules, which came into effect on October 31, 2026, have shifted decision-making powers from local councillors and committees to unelected planning officers, a change that will also impact local residents. Councils around Merseyside have seen several planning committee meetings cancelled.
Key Changes to Planning Decisions
Under the new rules, public petitions can no longer trigger an application to go directly to the planning committee and be decided by councillors. Councillors have also lost the power to "call in" planning applications for committee review.
Applications can only be sent to committee by the planning committee chair and the chief planning officer, and only if both agree. If an application reaches the committee, public speaking is now restricted to up to five members of the public with three minutes each to present their views.
Impact on Local Committees
The changing rules also mean that local committees are capped at a maximum of 13 councillors. The scheme means unelected, but fully trained officers will make most decisions for planning applications. However, committees may still consider some commercial and residential developments, listed building consent applications, tree preservation applications, and advertisement consent applications.
These applications will still be decided by planning officers unless they raise issues of economic, social or environmental significance. Since the rules have been introduced, a recently scheduled planning meeting on November 11 at Sefton Council was cancelled.
Councillor and Government Reactions
The changes triggered vocal opposition from councillors. A Liberal Democrat in Sefton, Cllr Mike Sammon, said: "The Labour government's changes to planning rules are a serious blow to local democracy."
"As councillors, we have the responsibility to represent residents and to ensure proposed developments meet the need of the community. We have now lost the ability to call application in before the planning committee."
The Liberal Democrats opposed these changes nationally and we raised concerns on Sefton council back in September, but our amendment was voted down by Labour councillors. I believe the government needs to reconsider these changes.
The government said the new rules were for tackling delays and to allow "homeowners and small businesses to get quicker answers".
Angela Rayner's Statement
On October 30, Angela Rayner, Labour's housing secretary, said: "Families wanting more space and businesses looking to grow shouldn't be left waiting unnecessarily for straightforward planning decisions."
"We're giving councils the people, tools and reforms they need to get applications moving faster, while freeing up planners and councillors to focus on the developments that will deliver the homes and infrastructure communities need."
"We've already beaten our manifesto commitment to recruit 300 planners, and we're going further with 1,400 new recruits across the planning system by the end of this Parliament."
