The North West Leicestershire District Council was scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday 27 October 2026. The primary item on the agenda was to consider amendments to the Council's Constitution to reflect new national regulations concerning the discharge of local planning authority functions.

Amendments to the Constitution to Reflect New Planning Regulations

The Council was scheduled to consider proposed changes to its Constitution, necessitated by the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, which were due to come into force on 31 October 2026. These regulations introduce a new National Scheme of Delegation, altering how planning applications are determined and when they may be referred to the Planning Committee.

The report pack indicated that the regulations aim to increase the number of planning applications determined by officers and reduce those referred to Planning Committees. Applications are now categorised into Schedule 1, which must be determined by officers, and Schedule 2, which can be determined by officers or, exceptionally, by the Planning Committee if certain criteria are met. The report also detailed the process for own interest applications, which are those submitted by or on behalf of the Council, a member, or an officer.

Key changes to the Constitution that were scheduled for consideration included:

• Call-In Arrangements: The existing process allowing ward members to request an application be determined by Planning Committee was to be replaced. Under the new regulations, the presumption is that decisions are delegated to officers, with referrals to committee being exceptional.
• Committee Referral Criteria: The criteria for referring applications to the Planning Committee were to be narrowed, focusing on significant economic, social, environmental, or planning impacts.
• Council, Member, and Officer Applications: The report outlined how applications made by the Council, its members, or officers would be handled, with a potential for referral to the Planning Committee under specific circumstances.
• Officer Delegation: The report detailed how certain categories of applications would be determined by officers, reflecting the new national scheme.

The report noted that the Council had no discretion in adopting these changes, as they were mandated by the new regulations. The proposed amendments had been considered by the Council's Audit and Governance Committee and the Governance Working Group. The report recommended that the Council approve the changes to the Constitution for adoption with effect from 31 October 2026.

The report also highlighted that the Council must ensure its constitution is up-to-date and legally compliant to avoid the risk of breaching planning regulations, which could lead to decisions being subject to judicial review. The report was presented by Councillor Peter Moult, Chair of the Governance Working Group, and the officer contact was Tom Pickwell, Head of Legal and Support Services (Monitoring Officer).¹