English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Lord Best Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 13th April 2026 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Best]

307: After Clause 73, insert the following new Clause—
“Chief Planner After section 1 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (local planning authorities), insert—“1A Local planning authorities and strategic authorities: Chief Planner(1) Each local planning authority and each strategic authority, as defined in section 1(2) of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (strategic authorities), must appoint an officer, to be known as Chief Planner, for the purposes of their functions in relation to planning and spatial development.(2) Two or more authorities may, if they consider that the same person can efficiently discharge for both or all of the authorities the functions of Chief Planner, concur in the same appointment of a person as Chief Planner for both or all of these authorities.(3) An authority may not appoint a person as Chief Planner unless satisfied that the person has appropriate qualifications and experience for the role.””Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would require authorities with planning and spatial development functions to appoint a Chief Planner to lead this professional work.

[Lord Best (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak for one minute on Amendment 307. It is in my name but has been championed by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for months, and he is very sorry not to be here tonight. It is supported by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. It would require local authorities and strategic authorities to have a named, qualified, responsible chief planner, shared with another authority if so desired. After the underresourcing of local authority planning for 20 years or more, leading to delay and frustration all round, this amendment would raise the status and profile of planning within local government. It would identify the responsible officer in each authority, which would speed up decision-making and enhance accountability.

The amendment comes with the endorsement of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Better Planning Coalition, which represents the 40 key planning-related organisations across the country. It would give the Government the perfect opportunity to help restore the position of planning to front and centre within local government, while increasing the respect of council members and the confidence of developers and providers. I see no reason why the Government are not enthusiastically positive about the amendment, and I wish to test the opinion of the House.