Will devolution help fix planning?

Currently, under half of UK residents live in an area covered by a devolution deal. The white paper offers local leaders a broader range of functions, greater revenue-raising powers and increased accountability and responsibility. The West Midlands and Greater Manchester will be the trailblazers, acting as examples for other mayoral combined authorities.

But is this compatible with the overall objective of the white paper to address regional inequality, or will devolution entrench geographical divides? And can devolution truly impact the planning system?

And what of those areas less suited to devolution, such as the home counties? Planning delivery in these areas has recently moved away from broader geographies towards smaller, localised geographies. This includes East Hampshire and Havant, which recently ended a 12-year partnership to focus more closely on their own individual priorities. Many in the home counties question the repeated failings of previous reorganisations and partnerships. So will there be any appetite for devolution in these areas?

And will devolution deliver any more efficient or effective planning? Buckinghamshire Council, a recently created unitary authority, is required to prepare a new Local Plan by April 2025, but its progress appears to be limited due to uncertainties within planning policy.

What will happen to devolved authorities if their plans do not progress within the set timescales or there are issues with decision-making and underperformance?

There remain many questions about how much planning power devolved administrations will have, and how effective they can be. To gain answers to these questions, we urgently need to understand the future direction of national planning policy, which is currently very uncertain.

Alice Davidson is associate director at Boyer