From 31 October 2026, new national regulations will change how planning applications are decided by local authorities across England.

The National Scheme of Delegation, introduced by the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 (“the Regulations”), sets out which planning applications must be decided by planning officers and which may be considered by a Planning Committee, if certain criteria are met.

The Regulations do not allow councils to operate local arrangements that can automatically refer applications to Planning Committee that are required to be decided by planning officers.

The key changes are:

• End of Ward Call-Ins: Powers for individual ward councillors and parish councils to "call in" applications to planning committee for determination will no longer be permissible.
• Representation Triggers: The threshold for consideration by the Delegation Panel for Planning Committee referral based on the number of representations received (currently 5 representations) will be removed.
• Definition of Schedule 1 Applications: These include householder applications, minor residential schemes (up to 9 dwellings), minor commercial development (Class E), discharge of conditions, certificates of lawfulness, non-material amendments and most prior approval applications. These must ordinarily be determined under delegated powers and cannot be referred to committee. Limited exceptions apply, such as specified local authority own-interest cases
• Definition of Schedule 2 Applications: These include major residential, major commercial, industrial and mixed-use development, and proposals affecting heritage assets and applications that raise significant policy, environmental or community considerations. The category also includes certain development proposals involving the local authority's own interests. The regulations presume Officer Delegation. Such applications will only be referred to committee if a nominated officer and a nominated member agree that the proposal meets strict significance criteria.
• Committee Size Cap: Capped at a maximum of 13 members.

The Gateway Test 

For Schedule 2 planning applications, the regulations now require the Council to carry out an initial review called the gateway test before deciding who should make the decision.

At this stage, the application is assessed against criteria set out in national regulations and guidance.

The purpose of the Gateway Test is to decide whether the application should be:

• decided by planning officers under delegated powers; or
• referred to the Planning Committee for a decision.

Before a Schedule 2 application can be referred to the Planning Committee, both of the following people must agree that it meets the legal criteria:

• The Nominated Officer (usually the Chief Planning Officer or another senior planning officer with significant professional experience); and
• The Nominated Member (the Chair of the Planning Committee).

If these 2 individuals do not both agree that the application should be referred to the Planning Committee, the law requires it to be decided by planning officers under delegated powers.

This process ensures that applications are considered in a consistent and transparent way and that only those meeting the statutory criteria are referred to the Planning Committee.

Schedule 2 applications

The Gateway Meeting is not a public meeting. However, details of all Schedule 2 applications are published below, together with the outcome of the Gateway meeting and whether the application will be decided by planning officers or referred to the Planning Committee for a decision.