Decision details

Background / Decision Summary:
On 16 December 2025 the Government published a consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation sets out some proposed changes and asks for comments on these and also suggestions for other potential changes.

The proposed changes follow on from the initial reforms made by Government to the NPPF in December 2024. A fuller update to national planning policy is now proposed which seeks to:
• Ensure the NPPF is accessible and understandable for all;
• Establish a suite of national policies on general planning matters to avoid these being repeated or deviated from in local plans;
• Make policy more rules based and certain.

The intention is that the changes unlock additional housing supply, facilitate grown-supporting commercial development, and simplify and improve the approach to climate change, environmental protections and heritage assets.

Particularly, it should be noted that the NPPF has been structurally revised and divided into plan-making and decision-making policies. These policies are individually named, as is usual in local plans, rather than the paragraph numbering of previous NPPFs. The decision-making policies (National Decision-Making Policy, or NDMP) are intended to come into force on publication of the new NPPF. Where local plan policies deviate from NDMP then they should be given very little weight in decision making; plan-makers should not duplicate or substantively restate or modify NDMP in their local plan.

Policy currently within Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) is intended to be included within the new NPPF, resulting in the removal of PPTS as a separate document. While some wording has been changed or removed, the government’s aims in respect to traveller sites remain unchanged.

The consultation is extensive in its breadth with 225 questions; hence we have concentrated on answering those questions/ changes which we felt were most important and relevant to council priorities. The response has been coordinated with technical officers across the council.

Following MHCLG analysis of the representations received, it is anticipated that the final version of the new NPPF will be published in summer 2026.

Comments/Observations:
In consultation with the Executive member for Housing, Planning & Safer Communities, the Director of City Development will now submit the Council’s response to the consultation.

To provide a response to the consultation.
To provide no response to the consultation.

To provide no response to the consultation.