The following 1 new Statutory Instrument (SI) comes into force on 25/03/2026:
New Legislation:
- March 2026: SI 2026 No. 188 - The Requirement to Assist with Certain Plan Making (Prescribed Public Bodies) (England) Regulations 2026 (pdf) (link).
Notes:
- The "Explanatory Note" (link) at the end of the above SI 2026 No. 188 includes the following information:
- "Section 39A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c. 5) ("the Act"), as inserted by section 100 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (c. 55), established a power for a plan-making authority to notify a prescribed public body in writing that the authority requires the body to assist the authority in relation to the preparation or revision of a relevant plan under section 39A(5) of the [Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004] by the authority. Where this power is exercised, the prescribed public body must do everything that the plan-making authority reasonably requires of the body to assist the authority in relation to the preparation or revision of the relevant plan.".
- "These Regulations [SI 2026 No. 188] prescribe the persons and bodies who are a "prescribed public body" for the purposes of section 39A of the [Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004] and therefore can be subject to a notification under section 39A(1) requiring assistance in relation to the preparation of a relevant plan.".
Other Sources of Information:
- July 2023: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill - consultation on implementation of plan-making reforms (link) (pdf print version of HTML webpage).
- Note: For more information about the above document, please view this post. - February 2025: Government press release - "Planning overhaul to speed up and simplify local plans" (link).
- February 2025: Government response to the proposed plan-making reforms - consultation on implementation (link) (pdf print version of HTML webpage).
- Note: For more information about the above document, please view this post. - March 2026: Government press release - "New plan-making system - regulations and content roadmap" (link).
- March 2026: MHCLG guidance - "Roadmap of resources and support - new local plan-making system" (link).
- March 2026: Explanatory Memorandum to SI 2026 No. 169 and SI 2026 No. 170 and SI 2026 No. 186 and SI 2026 No. 187 and SI 2026 No. 188 (pdf) (link).
Updates to the Planning Jungle website:
- The "Local Planning [OTHER] Regulations 2026" page has been created to list the above SI 2026 No. 188.