Ealing Council to implement new national planning rules for development approvals
New national planning rules are set to alter how Ealing approves developments, with a mandatory National Scheme of Delegation coming into effect on 31 October 2026. The new arrangements will take place on this date, with the changes taking effect from then.
The Ealing Planning Committee met on Wednesday 21 October 2026 to discuss the implications of these reforms, which aim to standardise the determination of planning applications across the country. The new regulations will see routine applications determined by officers, while committees will focus on those with significant local or planning issues.
Alex Jackson, Head of Development Management, presented an overview of the reforms, explaining that applications will be divided into two schedules. Schedule 1 applications, including householder and minor commercial developments, must be determined by officers. Schedule 2 applications are presumed to be officer-determined but can be referred to the Planning Committee if they meet specific statutory Gateway criteria and if both a nominated officer and a nominated member agree that referral is justified. This new process replaces existing local call-in and referral triggers.
Gateway Criteria for Schedule 2 Applications
Schedule 2 applications are presumed to be determined by officers but may be referred to the Planning Committee if they meet specific statutory Gateway criteria. These criteria are: (a) an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area; or (b) a significant planning matter having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations. However, meeting these tests does not automatically secure referral; both the nominated officer and nominated member must agree that Committee determination is justified.
The nominated officer is the Assistant Director for Planning, Design and Sustainability, with specified senior officer substitutes. The nominated member is the Chair of Planning Committee, with substitute arrangements for the Vice-Chair and, where necessary, another designated Committee member. Their decision-making is guided by whether the application meets the statutory Gateway criteria and if they agree that Committee determination is justified.
Transparency and Public Trust
Councillor Dee Martin, Chair of the Planning Committee, noted that the council's committee size of nine members already complies with the national limit of 13. Councillors discussed the potential impact on public trust, particularly where developments might be approved under delegated powers despite community opposition. Officers assured the committee that the new arrangements would be transparent and that members could still identify significant issues and request Gateway assessments. Relevant planning representations must inform officers' assessments.
The council intends to make information about the determination process as publicly available as possible. This includes workflows to record the classification of applications, whether they have gone through a gateway process, and whether they are delegated or committee decisions. Report templates will be updated, and there may be an additional layer of information on the council's website detailing the gateway process.
Impact on the Planning Committee
The reforms are intended to allow committees to focus on proposals that raise significant local or planning issues, while routine applications are determined by officers. The intention is that fewer applications will be taken through the committee process, with a focus on those matters which are of a significant nature. However, there is a possibility that slightly more will come to committee. In terms of how residents in Ealing will see this, it is thought that there will be very little change in practice. The impact on workload is described as really guesswork at this moment in time
and it feels as if it should be very similar.
Officer Training
One of the activities that the council hopes to schedule fairly soon will be a specific training session for officers. This will allow them to go through the new procedures in a little more detail and perhaps look at some live examples of the decision-making process with members. This training is to be arranged.
Further details on the planning committee meeting can be found in the Agenda frontsheet and the Public reports pack.
