The government’s reform of planning committees, the National Scheme of Delegation, comes into force on 31 October. It is designed to enable planning committees to focus more on the larger development sites by reducing the number of smaller, routine or technical applications being considered by the committees. There are already …

September was the start of party conference season, and housing and planning featured very differently across the three conferences. Labour used its conference to announce several new measures, while Reform UK set out a clear alternative focused on brownfield development. For the Liberal Democrats, housing was noticeably less prominent. Here …

In September, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Angela Rayner, announced that the Labour government’s former flagship local government reorganisation (LGR) reforms would be largely paused. This development happened in “light of new legal advice”. The proposals for Surrey are unaffected as they are already enshrined …

Currently the leader of one of the larger Reform groups on a London borough Council, Tony offers massive experience across every level of government. He was a councillor in a different London borough for another party for 12 years as well as serving on various local government bodies including the …

Our North Thames Region is based at our London office and covers Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. The team is headed by Michael Hardware and Sophie Coghlan. See further details and contacts on our North Thames Region page. Local government reorganisation remained a key issue in September after the government announced …

Our South Thames Region is based at our Guildford office and covers Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The team is headed by Mark Walker and Nick Wood-Dow. See further details and contacts on our South Thames Region page. Sussex Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC)  On the 17 September, …

Economy:  Inflation rates: The current inflation rate is 3.1%, up from 2.9% the previous month. Inflation remains above the Bank of England’s 2% target, with wider pressure from energy costs and global uncertainty continuing to feed into the outlook.  Interest rates: UK interest rates have been held at 3.75%, with …

Our South Midlands Region is based at our Northampton office and covers Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire. The team is headed by Guy Orton and Clare Tevlin. See further details and contacts on our South Midlands Region page. Local government reorganisation remained a key issue in September after the …