A cabal of senior public and private sector figures is proposing a new funding solution to help local authority planning departments unblock the logjam in planning applications across the UK.
Sky News has learnt that a report to be published on Thursday by the Purposeful Finance Commission (PFC) will outline plans for a so-called ‘Pipeline Fund’ of private sector cash to increase capacity in local authority planning departments.
Sources said that Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, and officials at his department had been briefed on the proposal.
The Pipeline Fund would be independently administered and supplement the government’s Skills and Delivery Fund, part of which is already being spent on bolstering planning capacity at cash-strapped local councils.
The Purposeful Finance Commission is chaired by the Pension Insurance Corporation chief executive Tracy Blackwell, and includes officials from the combined authorities in Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands.
Its proposal is designed to address a growing crisis in planning processes across the country, with recent figures showing that just 21% of major applications were processed in the statutory 13-week deadline over the last year, down from 57% a decade ago.
The Pipeline Fund would aim to raise £22.5m over a three-year period.
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“A lack of planning expertise and capacity at local authorities is a significant barrier to investment, regeneration and the creation of social value across the country,” Ms Blackwell said.
“We simply do not have the capacity as a country to handle the backlog of applications.
“This leads to delays, rising costs, and in many cases the cancellation of much-needed local projects from new homes to reservoirs, all of which incentivise developers and investors to focus on those local authorities which are better resourced.
“The Pipeline Fund would be a brilliant public-private partnership that helps us achieve common aims, where we all need projects to be reviewed by local authorities in a timely and efficient manner, which then helps spread economic prosperity more evenly across the country.”
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News of the proposal comes just days after competition watchdogs cited inadequate planning resources at local authorities as one of the factors responsible for the dearth in the number of new homes being built each year.
