The Standards Committee of Trafford Council met on Thursday 17 September 2026 to discuss significant changes to the council's planning application delegation scheme and to review its work programme. The committee approved amendments to the council's constitution and the Planning Committee Code of Practice to incorporate the new National Scheme of Delegation for planning applications, which aims to streamline decision-making processes.

National Scheme of Delegation for Planning Committees

The council discussed and approved significant amendments to its constitution and the Planning Committee Code of Practice to align with the new National Scheme of Delegation (NSD) for planning applications, which comes into effect on 31 October 2026. Rebecca Coley, Head of Planning and Development, explained that the NSD is a statutory requirement for all Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in England, designed to speed up development by ensuring that only the most significant and locally important applications are considered by committees, with the remainder delegated to officers.

Under the NSD, applications are divided into two schedules: Schedule 1 applications must be determined by officers, and Schedule 2 applications can be determined by a committee if a nominated officer and a nominated member agree, following a gateway test. This test assesses whether an application raises issues of economic, social, or environmental significance, or significant planning matters. The council's existing scheme of delegation will be layered on top of the national scheme to maintain its high delegation rate of 97.3%.

Concerns were raised by Councillor Geraldine Coggins, Leader of the Green Party Group, regarding the limited explicit mention of environmental and greenbelt issues within the NSD documentation and the reliance on the interpretation of only two individuals for the gateway test. Ms Coley clarified that environmental considerations are included within the broader economic, social, and environmental significance aspect of the gateway test, which is derived from the National Planning Policy Framework's definition of sustainable development. She assured the committee that the new arrangements would not lead to a deterioration in the scrutiny of environmental and greenbelt issues, as decisions are still based on planning policy.

The process for referring applications to the Planning Committee has changed. The previous call-in powers for ward members and objection triggers (more than 10 representations contrary to officer recommendation) will no longer automatically lead to a committee referral. Instead, these will be used as triage mechanisms to determine if an application should be considered for the gateway test. Ward members can make a Gateway Referral, explaining why an application meets the gateway test criteria. The nominated officer and nominated member will then decide whether to refer the application to the Planning Committee.

The nominated member will typically be the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Planning Committee, and the nominated officer will be the Head of Planning and Development or a senior substitute. The gateway meetings will not be held in public, but decisions will be published monthly. The council also confirmed that lobbying of the nominated officer and nominated member regarding gateway decisions is prohibited.

The committee also discussed the work programme for the remainder of the municipal year, which includes reviews of council meeting procedures, member policies, and the Standards Committee's annual report.

Work Programme

The committee received a report outlining its work programme for the 2026-2027 municipal year. This includes several items related to constitutional reviews and member policies. Key items include the review of council meeting procedures, member use of council property policy, and the review of the budget council meeting procedures. The work programme also includes the Standards Committee's annual report and reports on the Ombudsman and RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act). The committee agreed to the proposed work plan.

The meeting was attended by Councillor Shona Gilbert, Chair of the Standards Committee, and other councillors and officers, including Anna Boyers, Democratic Assistant, and Janazen, Principal Governance Manager. Apologies were received from Councillors James Wright and Charlotte Waterworth, and Phil Eckersley.