Planning application fee hike will not improve planning, warns MPA

23 January, 2025

The MPA has repeated its call for the extra income from the increased fees to be ‘ring-fenced’ to enable investment and improvement in desperately underfunded planning departments

Mineral Products Association repeats call for extra income from increased fees to be ‘ring-fenced’

GOVERNMENT proposals to raise planning application fees in England from April 2025 will not deliver the intended boost to local authority planning budgets, according to the Mineral Products Association (MPA), which has repeated its call for the extra income from the increased fees to be ‘ring-fenced’ to enable investment and improvement in desperately underfunded planning departments.

An efficient planning system is vital for economic growth and the Government claims the latest fee increase – presented to Parliament last week – will bring an extra £50 million a year into local planning authorities to provide a quicker, better service.

But the MPA is among the leading voices to express frustration that the Government has ignored recommendations to ring-fence the money from planning application fees, saying it will inevitably be used to prop up other areas of local government facing shortfalls.

Mark Russell, MPA executive director for environment and mineral planning, said: ‘The suggestion from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that raising planning fees will enable local authorities to provide a quicker, better service is naïve and completely ignores the fact that there is no guarantee this income will be invested in planning services.

‘Given the funding challenges and statutory obligations on local authorities, without safeguarding the money for planning departments, we have zero confidence that there will be any noticeable improvement from the fee increases, with the additional income simply being used to offset council budget deficits elsewhere.

‘There is widespread agreement, even in government, that planning teams need investment in capacity and skills to deliver the quality and speed of service the mineral products industry relies on. Without planning consent to extract, produce, and transport construction materials, government ambitions for housing and infrastructure could be restricted.

‘Planning bureaucracy is often cited as a key barrier to investment and growth, so this is a missed opportunity that doesn’t just create a problem for our industry, but for UK construction and manufacturing, and the UK economy as a whole.’