Ealing Council Adopts New Planning Decision Rules to Streamline Processes

Ealing Council Adopts New Planning Decision Rules to Streamline Processes

Ealing Council has adopted new rules governing how planning decisions are made, aiming to streamline processes and align with national regulations. The changes are expected to lead to a more efficient use of resources for both planning officers and the Planning Committee.

The council meeting on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, saw the approval of amendments to the Council's Constitution and the adoption of a Planning Committee Gateway Protocol. These changes are designed to comply with the mandatory National Scheme of Delegation established by the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, which come into effect on 31 October 2026.

The new regulations aim to clarify the roles of planning officers and the Planning Committee, with a focus on officer delegation for routine matters and a statutory Gateway process for applications that may warrant committee consideration. This aims to ensure that planning decisions are made lawfully, clearly, and efficiently. The revised arrangements are expected to support more efficient use of officer and committee resources by enabling routine planning applications to be determined under delegated authority and focusing Planning Committee time on applications where the statutory Gateway requirements are met and Member determination is justified.

Under the revised arrangements, Schedule 1 applications must be delegated to officers, while Schedule 2 applications are presumed to be determined by officers. However, Schedule 2 applications may be referred to the Planning Committee if the statutory Gateway requirements are met and both the nominated officer and nominated member agree that committee determination is justified. The revised arrangements preserve the Council's established high level of officer delegation. Routine, technical or specialist Schedule 2 matters will normally remain delegated unless the particular application raises issues capable of engaging the statutory Gateway requirements. Examples of such matters that will normally remain delegated include advertisement consent, works to protected trees, routine listed building consent and related applications, discharge or variation of listed building conditions, routine section 73 applications and minor or technical changes to planning obligations.

The nominated officer for the Gateway Protocol will be the Assistant Director for Planning, Design and Sustainability, with the Chair of the Planning Committee serving as the nominated member. The Protocol states that the Gateway assessment is not a general call-in mechanism and that the process must be recorded in writing with reasons, applied consistently, and support lawful, consistent and proportionate application. It also emphasizes that the Gateway process should not be used as a means of increasing the number of applications reported to Planning Committee.

Councillor Dominic Moffitt, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, stated that the changes would support clear, consistent and transparent planning decision-making and support timely planning decisions across the Council's seven towns, providing greater certainty for investment, regeneration, housing, employment space and community infrastructure.

The report to the council meeting, available in the Public reports pack, noted that these changes do not alter the Council's planning policies or the legal tests applied when determining applications. They also do not reduce the rights of individuals or communities to participate in the planning process or make representations.

The meeting agenda can be found here.