Nature Restoration Fund
The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) is part of Part 3 the Planning and Infrastructure Act. It provides for Natural England to submit draft Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) to the Secretary of State. If the EDP is approved, this will allow developers to discharge their relevant responsibilities by paying a levy to meet environmental responsibilities relating to certain protected sites and species.
The Government has published a policy paper on implementing the NRF and DEFRA has issued a blog about it for for nature markets and the wider sector.
CBE for Tony Travers
Tony Travers, Visiting Professor in the LSE Department of Government, Associate Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy, Director of LSE London and Patron of London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies was awarded in the King’s New Year Honours a CBE for Services to Economics and to Public Service.
Congratulations to Tony for this well deserved honour.
You can book for our open meeting on 29th January to hear Tony’s comments on ‘Densifying the suburbs’.
Local Government Finance
A report sets out details of the final Local Government settlement for 2026 to 2027 requiring approval by the House of Commons early in 2026.
In this multi-year settlement, the first for a decade, the Government will set allocations for financial years 2027-28 and 2028-29.
Local Authorities and other interested parties have been responding to a consultation which has full details.
Duty to Cooperate ends
The Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, wrote to the Planning Inspectorate in November 2025 to set out that the Government intends to revoke the Duty to Co-operate for the current plan-making system.
Paul Morrison, the CEO of the Planning Inspectorate, replied on 15th December 2025 welcoming the change and giving details on how Local Plans will be examined and legally compliant and sound plans brought forward to adoption.
A National Plan to End Homelessness
A strategy to tackle homelessness was presented to Parliament in December 2025 by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP.
He said “We’re building more social and affordable homes by a £39 billion investment and banning no-fault evictions. We’re investing in homelessness services to act early, supporting councils ensuring there’s join up between public services to prevent rather than just manage crises.”
The House of Commons Library has issued a report on temporary accommodation.
Single Construction Regulator
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report recommended a single regulator that draws together functions relating to the construction industry.
There is a Government consultation on a Single Construction Regulator until 20th March 2026.
New NPPF consultation
The Government issued a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework with a consultation until 10th March 2026. London Forum’s members are asked to consider the local implications of the proposed planning rules and to respond to the consultation. Specific concerns or recommendations can be notified to us.
There was a long debate in Parliament on the proposed new NPPF.
The lawyer Nicola Gooch has issued an NPPF briefing with additional links and Simon Ricketts has commented on the content of the new NPPF.
Chief Planning Officer’s newsletter
Joanna Averley, MHCLG’s Chief Planner, has issued her latest newsletter to local authorities.
It covers the new NPPF; the Planning & Infrastructure Bill; Planning Advisory Service events; funding for LPAs; planning skills and capacity survey results; consultation on cross-pavement solutions for electric vehicle charging; climate guidance by RTPI and TCPA; Neighbourhood Planning financial support and getting Sustainable Urban Drainage right from the start.
Online appeals service
The Planning Inspectorate has completed the national rollout of its new digital appeals service, enabling all local planning authorities to manage planning appeals online.
All LPAs can now use the new service to manage appeals for Householder (HAS), Planning (S78), Listed Building (S20), Commercial Planning, Commercial Adverts, and Advertisements. On-line Enforcement, Enforcement Listed Building and Lawful Development Certificate facilities will be introduced in February 2026.
More details are here, video below… Read more...
New Resource Pages
There are many public sources of articles, reports and publications that could be important to London Forum’s members to help awareness of policy changes and activity of Government and GLA departments. The information could be useful for the way societies work with their local authority and their MP.
To help you, we’ve created a Resources website menu with links to useful research resources on the Internet, as well as to relevant London Forum material, including the Find Your Local Society page with its new map, and the ‘What We’ve Said‘ archive.… Read more...
Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Try a new search:
How to petition Parliament
Old Kent Road development – update
High Value Council Tax Surcharge
Blockers and Approvers: Rates of Delegation and Approval for Planning Applications
The Government recently published Planning Statistics for the year to March 2025. For the 32 London boroughs, the statistics showed some interesting features.
First, they showed that all but three boroughs – Camden, Ealing and Harrow delegated decisions to officers on 90% or more of the applications they received; and that 19 of them delegated decisions on more than 98% of applications. Two boroughs – Enfield and Redbridge – delegated decisions on nearly 100% of applications.… Read more...
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How Effective is Planning Enforcement?
📆 Mon 29th June | 18:30 - 20:30
🚩 77 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6EL (map)
How can we make it work better? Planning enforcement is important. Unless it’s done effectively, the integrity of the whole planning system is put at risk. But it’s one of the most frustrating issues for civic societies and local community groups. We’ll discuss this and related issues at this Open Meeting on 29th June. Please book here ( https://www.londonforum.org.uk/events/how-effective-is-planning-enforcement#booking ) Cases typically include: Large developments that grossly fail to meet planning conditions or even submitted drawings and plans; Illegal demolitions; Unauthorised residential alterations and extensions; Additional floors…