Decision

Decision to be taken:

To amend the Constitution as set out at appendix 2 including appointment of the Nominated Member and Nominated Officer and introduce the Planning Scheme of Management at appendix 3 of the attached papers to ensure compliance with the law and the statutory guidance in relation to the National Scheme of Delegation. This also includes a delegation to the Head of Planning as the Chief Planning Officer to amend the Planning Scheme of Management in consultation with the Nominated Member.

Decision:

To amend the Constitution to introduce the National Scheme of Delegation to ensure compliance with the law and statutory guidance as attached in the supporting papers, particularly appendices 2 and 3, given Members at Full Council did not agree the papers at their meeting on 19 October 2026.

This decision will require ratification at the December Council meeting.

Reasons for the decision

The Council report of 19 October 2026 sets out:

1.1           The Government has introduced a mandatory National Scheme of Delegation (NSD) for planning applications. The NSD has established nationally prescribed rules regarding which planning applications are to be determined by Officers and which applications may be determined by Planning Committee, which must be implemented by 31 October 2026.

1.2            Council on 19 October 2026 did not agree the required constitutional changes therefore to ensure compliance with the law by the required compliance date of 31 October, as Monitoring Officer, I am exercising my delegation to ensure planning applications can continue to be determined in an efficient, effective and lawful manner. This aims to prevent impacts on performance, delays to applicants and avoid potential legal and procedural issues with non-determination of applications.

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing

Under this option, the Council would make no amendments to its Constitution, Scheme of Delegation or supporting governance arrangements prior to the legal implementation of the NSD.

Although the NSD will apply automatically from 1st November 2026, the Council would not have in place the local arrangements required to operate the gateway process prescribed by the legislation. In particular, there would be no formally identified Nominated Member, Nominated Officer or substitute arrangements to undertake the assessment of Schedule 2 applications.

This could result in uncertainty regarding decision-making responsibilities, delays in the determination of planning applications, increased risks of procedural challenge and potential failures to meet statutory timescales.

For these reasons, this option is dismissed.