The Planning and Infrastructure Act (“the Act”), which gained Royal Assent in December 2025, includes scope for further changes to the planning fee regime. These include localised planning fees and surcharge payable to statutory consultees. The proposed changes to planning fees are discussed in ‘Takes notes: localised fees a step nearer’. This blog discusses the proposed surcharges payable to fund statutory consultee engagement with planning applications.
The Act will amend the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to introduce provisions that allow surcharges on planning application fees to be applied.
Context – a long term desire to improve response times and quality
In December 2023, the then Secretary of State announced
:
“three-month review into the wider statutory consultee system to understand how best to direct their advice and resources to support speedy and effective decision making. I also expect to see greater discretion and judgement applied by both local authorities and statutory consultees on where advice is sought and where it needs to be offered”.
The review was not published, but the new Government was alive to the concerns that had been raised.
The ‘Reform of the Statutory Consultee System’ Written Ministerial Statement was made by the Housing and Planning Minister in March 2025. This proposed removal of some statutory consultees, to review which applications were being consulted upon and announced a moratorium on new statutory consultees. The Statement also referred to the need to adequately fund consultees. The Minister noted:
“It is essential that statutory consultees look to provide practical, pragmatic advice and expertise which is focussed on what is necessary to make development acceptable”
[…]
“the Government recognises that statutory consultees need to be resourced adequately, and on a sustainable basis to enable them to support the government’s growth objectives in full. We intend to develop a model to support this sustainable funding, while ensuring we are incentivising efficient and constructive engagement in applications, and in the planning system more generally.”
A consultation was launched on 18 November 2025 that is seeking views on reforming the role of statutory consultees in the planning system
[2], specifically those consulted on applications submitted under the TCPA.
The consultation sets out the intentions of the statutory consultee reforms in 13 points, which are
here, short and worth reading in full. Under item 5, the Government says:
“MHCLG and the Department for Transport (DfT) are collaborating with National Highways to provide greater clarity on when a transport assessment is required and whether it meets the necessary standards, with the aim of improving guidance and reducing the need for holding responses”.
‘Steering the statutory consultee system to support economic growth – the role of National Highways’ by Richard Coburn
, considers this point.
The consultation also proposes the removal of Sports England, the Theatres Trust and the Gardens Trust. It says also says “most statutory consultees recognise that there are opportunities to substantially reduce referrals”.
And, referring to the surcharge on planning fees provided by the now Act, it says:
“We recognise that an efficient and effective statutory consultee system requires that the statutory consultees have sufficient resources to fulfil their obligations.”
The proposed surcharge for statutory consultees
The Act provides for the Secretary of State to make regulations setting the level of the surcharge. Regulations will also define different surcharge levels for different types of applications or circumstances; and specify how and when surcharge payments must be transferred to the Secretary of State by collecting authorities. The Reforms to the statutory consultee system consultation says:
“We do not intend for the surcharge to cover the costs of voluntary pre-engagement or planning performance agreements, and rates will be set accordingly”.
While the Explanatory Notes to the (then) Bill say…
“The surcharge must, if imposed, be set by reference to the costs incurred by bodies, listed in regulations, which provide advice in the planning application process, including by way of consultation responses”.
…the Act also says that the Regulations that provide for the surcharge:
“may set the surcharge at a level that exceeds the costs of listed persons of providing advice, information or assistance in connection with the application, proposed application or proposal in respect of which the surcharge is imposed”.
The Government says it will consult on the detailed proposals ‘in due course’. According to the statutory consultee consultation, the Government:
“will explore with statutory consultees the most effective use of this funding, including supporting ongoing case management work, and funding specific projects which will enable performance gains”.
The Government consultation also alludes to concerns raised by the planning and development industry, criticising the quality of statutory consultee responses and questioning the effectiveness of the current system:
“In far too many instances, statutory consultee engagement with planning applications is not proactive or proportionate, and advice and information provided is not timely or commensurate with what is necessary to make development acceptable in planning terms.”
Those paying surcharges would expect to see a significantly improved statutory consultee process that reflects the higher fee paid. And given that several bodies are statutory consultees, managed and operated differently, it might be that some rise to the challenge while others take the money but don’t run. However, achieving the intention of a more proportionate level of statutory consultee engagement would reduce the time spent by consultees, thus lowering the potential surcharges. Therefore, proportionate engagement is key – which isn’t new, but could be even more difficult to achieve if cost recovery is not accurate and prolonged engagement attracts a fee.
Provisions relating to surcharges will come into force on 18 February 2026, but will also require further regulations in order to take effect.
The ‘Reforms to the statutory consultee system’ consultation closes on 13 January 2026.
