Written ministerial statements on planning 2025

A written ministerial statement dated 13 February 2025 stated that applications for development on Crown land should be submitted to either the Planning Inspectorate or the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, under provisions in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 and relevant statutory instruments. Nationally important developments on Crown land should be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate directly, instead of to local planning authorities. Urgent nationally important Crown development should be determined by the secretary of state for housing, communities, and local government.

A written ministerial statement emerged on 10 March relating to the possible reform of the statutory consultee system. The government intends to consult on the following:

Reducing the number of statutory consultees (including removing Sport England, the Theatres Trust and the Gardens Trust).
Reviewing the scope of all statutory consultees, to reduce the type and number of applications on which they must be consulted, and making better use of standing guidance in place of case-by-case responses.
Clarifying consultations, ensuring that local authorities consult statutory consultees only where necessary. Decisions should not be delayed beyond the 21-day statutory deadline unless a decision cannot otherwise be reached, or advice may enable an approval rather than a refusal.
Creating a new performance framework, in which the chief executives of key statutory consultees report on their performance directly to Treasury and MHCLG ministers.

This article originally appeared as ‘Written ministerial statements’ in the Institute of Historic Building Conservation’s (IHBC’s) Context 184, published in June 2025. It was written by Alexandra Fairclough.

--Institute of Historic Building Conservation