Purpose

A change in legislation has required amendments to the Planning Terms of Reference and the Planning Delegation scheme.

On 31st October 2026, the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) come into force.

Section 319ZZC of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives the Secretary of State the power to set out which functions of a local planning authority should be delegated to the planning officers for a decision and which should instead go to a planning committee.

The Secretary of State has exercised this power through the Regulations which are due to come into force on 31st October 2026. These Regulations set out the following general approach to decision making:

Schedule 1 applications
a) Where applications fall under Schedule 1, decisions must be delegated to officers under regulation 4 unless it is an own interest application. A list of Schedule 1 applications is set out in Guidance notes below the Draft Scheme of Delegations attached at Appendix 2.

Schedule 2 applications
b) Where applications fall under Schedule 2, there is an overriding presumption under regulation 5 that decisions are delegated to officers and only exceptionally be referred to Committee. A list of Schedule 2 applications is set out in Guidance notes below the Draft Scheme of Delegation attached at Appendix 2.

In order to be referred to Committee the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member have to agree the application should be referred to Planning Committee for determination and that it meets at least one of the criteria in regulation 5(3) or it is an own-interest application.

The statutory criteria under regulation 5(3) are:
A. Where the application raises an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area.
B. Where the application raises a significant planning matter having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations.

What amounts to significant under criterion A will vary depending on the local area and is a matter to be assessed by the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member.

Where a Nominated Officer and Nominated Member cannot reach agreement on which cases should be referred to Committee, the case must be determined by officers in accordance with regulation 5(2) and 6(3) of the Regulations.

In relation to own-interest applications i.e. an application made (whether or not jointly with any other person) by the authority or an officer or member of the authority or an application where the authority or any of its members or officers has an interest, these can be referred to the Planning Committee for determination if the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member of the
Planning Committee agree. This is the case whether they are in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 and they can be referred to the Committee without the need for consideration of the criteria set out in regulation 5(3). Where there is no
referral the application must be determined by an officer.

Where a local planning authority is determining its own application for planning permission, it must not be determined by a committee, subcommittee or officer responsible for the management of the building or land to which the application relates (regulation 10 Town and Country Planning
General Regulations 1992). Where a planning application is made by a Nominated Officer or Nominated Member of BANES or they have an interest in it, in the interests of propriety, they should not be involved in the decision on whether to refer it to Committee or not.

Where a planning function is not listed in either Schedule 1 or 2, it is for B&NES’ local planning authority to decide whether it should be delegated to an officer or referred to Committee for decision as part of its Constitution.

Where a local planning authority considers a section 106 agreement is connected to an application falling into either Schedule 1 or Schedule 2, and agreement is being sought to amend or discharge the planning obligation (under section 106A(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990), the
function of agreeing to amend or discharge the obligation should fall into the same schedule as the related application. This same approach applies to applications to modify or discharge an obligation under section 106A(3).

Planning Committee size
Regulation 7 provides that the number of members on a Planning Committee be no more than 13. B&NES’ Planning Committee is currently comprised of 10 councillors.

Constitutional rule 1.13 delegates the power to make these changes to the Monitoring Officer.

Decision

The Monitoring Officer made the decision to amend the Planning Committee Terms of Reference as set out in the Constitution in accordance with the attached appendix 1.

The Monitoring Officer further decided to agree the revised Planning Scheme of Delegations, incorporating the necessary legislative requirements in accordance with the attached appendix 2.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Not to amend the TOR and scheme. This would leave the Council uncompliant with legislation.