Reforms to the Statutory Consultee System
On Tuesday 18th November, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a consultation document on the proposed reforms to the Statutory Consultee System. This consultation seeks views on the following proposals:
• removing statutory consultee status from certain bodies.
• reviewing the scope of what statutory consultees advise on.
• improving performance management across existing statutory consultee bodies in the planning system more widely.
The government has worked with seven key national statutory consultees to review opportunities to make the consultation process more efficient and free up resources for plan making. The key proposed changes to each statutory consultee are summarised below:
National Highways
The government is proposing to amend the statutory criteria in which planning applications are referred to National Highways. Under the new referral criteria, the following developments would be subject to statutory consultation:
• development that does not require a transport assessment or that only impacts non-trunk roads would not generally be referred to National Highways.
• applications with potential safety impacts related to trunk roads should continue to be referred.
Proposals that are likely to have a safety impact on trunk roads, regardless of development size, would also be subject to statutory consultation. The proposed new ‘triage’ service for these proposals would enable a ‘pre-assessment’ in order to determine which proposals require full assessment.
Active Travel England
In order to minimise currently extensive consultation with Active Travel England, it is proposed to amend the referral criteria for statutory consultation to focus on large scale residential developments, raising the threshold for consultation from 150 to 250 units. Additionally, a new referral criteria relating to school and highway development is proposed stating, “Active Travel England should be consulted on highway authority development requiring planning permission, and on school and college development of over 750m2 “. Best-practice guidance for developers and local authorities will also be developed by Active Travel England to address the loss of consultations on commercial-only schemes.
Natural England
Natural England’s role is proposed to involve increasing the focus on strategic engagement through Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) and local plans. Changes to the primary legislation governing Natural England will help to increase their flexibility in choosing where to focus their resources. This will be supported by an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which would enable Natural England to direct resources more effectively towards strategic, high impact mitigations.
Natural England also proposes an increased and improved use of its ‘standing’ (pre-written) advice, to cover issues such as air quality, and best and most versatile land. Local Planning Authorities use of Impact Risk Zones will also be supported and expanded, this will help streamline the planning process and reduce the need for additional consultations.
The Environment Agency
The Environment Agency has already committed to a range of reforms to contribute to the government’s growth agenda, including committing to responding to 95% of planning applications within 21 days from September 2025 onwards. To sustain their improved performance and maximise growth, they are seeking to clarify and update existing processes through a newly created National Infrastructure Team. The Environment Agency have also identified opportunities for more standing advice and standardised comments to be developed, working with local authorities and developers, on issues such as biodiversity and land remediation to support more effective engagement.
Historic England
The proposed changes to Historic England as a statutory consultee aim to make the consultee process more efficient and free up resources to focus on more impactful decisions. The proposed changes include removing notification requirements for all Grade II Listed Buildings (except demolition) and raising the threshold for consultation in relation to conservation areas from development of 1,000m2 to development of 2,000m2.
Specifically for development in London Boroughs, it is proposed to remove the requirement for Historic England to be notified of any listed building consent application, providing that is not for an excluded work (broadly demolition, alteration or extension of Grade II listed building), bringing it in line with the rest of the country.
Mining Remediation Authority
The Mining Remediation Authority proposes to reduce the scope of applications it advises on by developing additional standing advice for low-risk development in high-risk areas, meaning consultation is not required.
Health and Safety Executive
There are no proposed changes to the current referral criteria, it is considered to be appropriate and should be maintained to reflect the importance of safety focus in relation to applications within the vicinity of major hazard sites, major accident hazard pipelines and HSE licensed explosive sites.
Conclusion
The proposed changes have the potential to substantially reduce the number of referrals statutory consultees receive, and make the planning process more efficient. However, it is noted that there are no proposals to alter arrangements for internal consultations within local planning authorities which can, in our view, often also lead to delays in applications being determined in a timely manner. These measures will be consulted on over 8 weeks from 18th November 2025, with the aim of streamlining the statutory consultation process for all planning applications. We will continue to monitor this consultation on behalf of our clients. Please reach out to a member of the Firstplan team if you have any questions on these proposed changes.
The full Policy Statement can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforms-to-the-statutory-consultee-system/reforms-to-the-statutory-consultee-system#reforms-to-key-statutory-consultees
Article prepared by: Alfie Spurr
Contact: info@firstplan.co.uk
