A raft of planning announcements have been released in a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning. This article considers two key elements: the new Consultation Direction and the planning application fees consultation.

New consultation direction

Further proposals out for consultation

• commercial developments of 15,000m² floorspace or more, where an LPA intends to refuse planning permission
• certain development at nuclear facilities, where an LPA intends to refuse planning permission
• residential development within a Detailed Emergency Planning Zone for an Atomic Weapons Establishment where certain LPAs are minded to grant permission

Whilst the nuclear facilities proposal is likely inspired by the recent adoption of the Fingleton Review, the commercial development change would include most major data centres, the backbone of the Government's AI Opportunities Action Plan. The consultation for these proposals closes on 4 May 2026

Planning application fees consultation

The Statement also launched an open consultation on the Government's plans to shake up planning application fees, building on powers introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Under the new framework, a national default fee schedule will continue to apply across England, proposed to be set at 90% of estimated cost recovery. However, LPAs will be able to vary fees from the national default schedule where this is required to reflect the actual costs of delivering planning services locally.

The consultation also proposes the introduction of a statutory consultee surcharge, set at around 10% of the national default fee. The surcharge would be used to support the resourcing of statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency and Natural England, aimed at improving the timeliness and quality of consultee responses. The consultation seeks views on how the surcharge should operate where locally set fees are adopted, and whether any upper limits or caps should apply. 

Alongside these proposals, the Government is also reviewing the future role of discretionary planning services, including pre‑application advice and Planning Performance Agreements. The central concern is the risk that applicants will pay higher application fees whilst still being expected to pay significant additional sums for the above-mentioned services. As a result, the discretionary services may instead be absorbed into a core planning function, or at least offered at a more consistent baseline level. The consultation will close on 18 May 2026.