What’s new: South Staffordshire District Council leader Councillor Kath Perry has written to the Government calling for an urgent review of national changes affecting how planning applications are decided.
Why it matters: Councillors have warned that fewer planning applications will be determined by elected members, raising concerns about local democratic representation and accountability.
What’s next: The National Scheme of Delegation is due to come into force on October 31, with South Staffordshire District Council required to change how its planning decisions are handled.
This article is based on reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a BBC funded initiative set up to strengthen reporting on local democratic issues. The Staffordshire Signal has taken part in the scheme since September 2026, which means we're able to draw on a selection of LDRS stories alongside our own.
South Staffordshire District Council’s leader has called on the Government to urgently review national changes to how planning applications are determined – and said the move will result in “a loss of local democracy”.
Councillor Kath Perry wrote to Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Local Government, on Friday (October 9) – the day after district councillors reluctantly approved changes to their constitution to bring it into line with the National Scheme of Delegation.
This is due to come into force on October 31 and determines which planning applications must be decided by council officers, and those that can be referred to planning committees for consideration. It also restricts the number of members a planning committee can have to a maximum of 13.
South Staffordshire District Council’s planning committee currently has 17 members, so the national change will mean it is set to be reduced by four. At Thursday’s extraordinary full council meeting (October 8), Councillor Warren Fisher called for two planning committees to be established – one for the north of the district and the other for the south – and his proposal was backed by fellow members.
He said: “I’m not seeking to overturn the National Scheme of Delegation, because unfortunately that needed doing in Parliament. My amendment is about something we do still have a choice on locally, and that’s how we structure the small amount of elected member involvement that remains.
“Both committees would operate under exactly the same legislation, the same political balance, the same policies, the same gateway test and the same professional officer advice. Fundamentally it’s about democratic representation.
“As we know, under this legislation, fewer planning applications will be determined by elected members. Planning committees will increasingly concentrate on strategic, complex and locally significant proposals.
“So if elected members are going to determine fewer applications, I think the democratic representation around those applications becomes more important, not less. Ultimately this isn’t just about us as councillors it’s about our residents – we all know that planning decisions can have very real and lasting impacts on our communities.”
Councillors were told by Mark Evans, cabinet member for planning and enterprise services, that the national changes were mandatory legal requirements. “If we ignore these requirements, we face severe legal, operational and financial consequences”, he added.
“There is a risk that any decisions in relation to planning, made after 31st October, will be legally unlawful and will probably result in us being put into special measures, taking decisions completely out of our hands. I have no option but to propose that the council accept the recommendations.”
In total, 19 councillors voted to accept the changes. But 10 abstained and two – Councillors Sue Szalapski and Victoria Wilson, voted against.
Councillor Wilson said: “I think that if enough councils protest against this, our voices might be heard. If councillors are really free to vote, then councillors must be free to choose.
“The principle at stake here isn’t just about planning, it’s about democracy, local accountability and the role of elected members. What’s at stake today isn’t just a constitutional amendment, it’s the voice of the people of South Staffordshire – the people that we represent.”
Councillor Fiona Hopkins, who abstained from the vote, said: “In the few cases where we’ve got the opportunity to have some local democratic say, it comes down to the bottom line of what is determined to have or create issues of economic, social or environmental significance. We don’t have a good choice here, to either kick the legs out from local democracy and go along with this disgusting abomination, or to go against it and then make completely inappropriate developments more likely in our communities.”
In her letter to the Secretary of State, Councillor Perry said: “The one-size-fits-all blanket approach to all planning delegations across the country demonstrates no regard to the distinctiveness of places and the distinct social economic or environmental factors that vary so greatly between regions. Whilst the council recognises the merit in swift determination of planning applications that do not raise material issues and trusts our highly-qualified and skilled planning professionals to process those applications, a blanket approach which allows for no minor planning applications to be debated locally is a loss of local democracy.
“We therefore urge the Government to consider a review of this scheme that recognises the practicalities and reality of the determination of planning applications.”
Written by Kerry Ashdown, Local Democracy Reporter.
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