Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, in which financial years will the additional funding for the training and recruitment of planning officers be allocated; and whether that funding will be baselined into the Local Government Finance Settlement in future years.

At the Budget, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. A proportion of this funding will be used to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities, including the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners and developing the skills needed to implement reforms and unlock housing delivery.

As part of the government’s commitment to simplify the local government funding landscape, we intend to significantly reduce the number of housing, planning, resettlement, and numerous other smaller grants owned by MHCLG – rolling them into the Local Government Finance Settlement wherever possible. More detailed proposals for simplification will be announced in due course.

More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.

The government has also recently consulted on increasing planning fees. This will support local planning authorities in the longer-term by putting them on a more sustainable financial footing.