Hounslow Council has approved significant changes to its Planning Committee's terms of reference, a move necessitated by new national legislation.

The borough council met on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, to implement these amendments, which stem from the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2026. These legislative updates introduce a national scheme for the delegation and referral of planning applications and impose a maximum limit of 13 members for planning committees.

Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of the Council, presented the report, explaining that the revisions were a legal obligation for all local planning authorities across England. He proposed the approval of the revised terms of reference, the appointment of the Chair of the Planning Committee as the Council's nominated member and the Vice-Chair as their deputy, and the designation of the Director of Planning and Buildings as the Council's nominated officer.

Under the new terms of reference, the Planning Committee's scope includes considering local planning and development management matters as set out in Schedule 1A and paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended). Unless a matter is referred to the Planning Committee, applications for planning permission, consent, consultation, approval, or enforcement matters will generally be dealt with by the Director of Planning and Buildings, who may further delegate these functions to officers. The new national scheme introduces statutory arrangements for the delegation and referral of planning applications. Generally, Schedule 1 applications will be determined by officers, and Schedule 2 applications will also be determined by officers unless a statutory process for referral to the Planning Committee is met. For Schedule 2 applications, referral to the Planning Committee is required if the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member agree that the application raises significant economic, social, or environmental issues, or significant planning matters. Additionally, own-interest applications (made by or on behalf of the Council, a Council member, or officer) can be referred to the Planning Committee if the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member agree. All other applications are delegated to the Director of Planning and Buildings for determination according to the local scheme of officer delegations. This differs from the previous system by establishing a more defined national framework for delegation and referral, with specific criteria for when applications must be considered by the committee.

However, the proposed changes were met with opposition. Councillor Jack Emsley BEM raised concerns regarding the necessity of an additional meeting, which he attributed to the administration's mismanagement of constitutional changes. He stated, We're here to bail out the administration after it botched legally required constitutional changes, and argued that the council's reputation had been damaged. Councillor Emsley elaborated that the leader of the council recklessly sought to gerrymander our constitution. The plan failed. But the fallout meant we couldn't be sure whether we had properly passed legally required changes to planning rules. This led to the need for the current meeting to re-debate and approve the revised terms of reference to ensure legal compliance.

Councillor Roger Crouch described the changes as another assault on democracy and a further instance of devolution that diminishes the role of councillors and leaves residents without a voice. He expressed apprehension that centralising power within the hands of the director of planning and the chair of the planning committee was dangerous and undemocratic. Councillor Crouch voiced concerns that Centralising too much power in the hands of the director of planning and the chair of the planning committee, no matter how well-intentioned they are, is dangerous and undemocratic. He further questioned, These proposals are undemocratic. Is this Council with limited opportunities for members and residents to ask question, How will the director and the chair be held accountable? He believes these changes diminish councillors and leave residents voiceless and powerless.

Councillor Theo Dennison echoed these sentiments, labelling the national proposals as an abomination and criticising the administration for a lack of creativity in devising methods to preserve a voice for the public and councillors in planning decisions. Councillor Dennison suggested that alternative methods could have been devised to retain a voice for the public and councillors. He proposed that there can be forum and there can be requests for the public and councillors to highlight to those who do retain powers on these matters issues of concern, not just to the normal process of notification of a planning application, but when they see what those applications actually look like in fact, they should be able to say you need to look closely at these matters, because these are matters of concern to us. He also suggested that there should also be, but again, not here in Hounslow, regular reports, clear reports setting out how planning powers have been delivered in this borough on your behalf of our residents or residents deserve the right to be told.

The new statutory arrangements provide for a maximum membership of 13 members on the Planning Committee, a reduction from the current 15 members. The report states that 'The allocation of seats will continue to be subject to the applicable statutory political balance requirements.' Councillor Tony Brown noted that the Audition Governance Committee was an example of fair representation with three Labour councillors, two Conservative councillors, and himself, which he considered a fair reflection of proportionality. Councillor Darshan Nagi argued that Labour no longer had an overall majority but still expected to control committees and retain chairmanships, stating, 'This is now a Council with no overall control, and that should be reflected in how our committees operate.'

Following the debate, the council voted to approve the revised terms of reference with 44 votes in favour and 19 against.

Read the full Public reports pack for the meeting: Public reports pack Wednesday 21-Oct-2026 19.30 Borough Council