CIH welcomes new local powers as English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill becomes law

The Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) has welcomed news that the government’s English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill has received Royal Assent.

The act further embeds English regional devolution in law, providing more responsibilities for strategic authorities across the country and bringing power closer to communities.

The act has significant implications for housing and planning. Most significantly, it extends many of the planning powers currently available to the Mayor of London to all mayoral strategic authority areas. These include:

• Powers to establish Mayoral Development Orders (MDOs), granting planning permission for specific types of development in certain areas.
• The ability for mayors to charge a community infrastructure levy (CIL) on development, with proceeds used to fund strategic authority activity.
• Extending compulsory purchase order powers to mayors.  
• The provision of new powers for mayors to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance.
• Powers to create Mayoral Development Corporations for delivery of priority projects 

Alongside the Planning and Infrastructure Act, which came into law late last year, the implementation of the act also means spatial development strategies – locally led, long-term planning frameworks operating across local authority boundaries – will be established across England. This represents an important evolution in cross-boundary planning, providing more opportunity for local leaders to work together to deliver new homes, infrastructure and services.

Commenting on the passage of the bill into law, Tom Arnold, policy manager for regional engagement and devolution at CIH, said: “We are pleased to see further progress on devolution in England as this legislation becomes law. The act develops a clear framework for devolution and sets a path towards all parts of England being represented by some form of strategic authority by the end of this Parliament.

“The measures included within the act have potential to help both mayors and strategic authorities, in tandem with local authorities, play a bigger role in delivering much needed new homes and infrastructure.”

“With the Social and Affordable Homes Programme also launched earlier this month, and Integrated Settlements in place in established mayoral strategic authority areas providing greater financial certainty, we look forward to mayors and strategic authorities across England playing a major role in the planning and development of high quality new communities.

“In addition to these new planning powers, we welcome the duty – included in the act – for mayors and strategic authorities to ensure they formally consider local health and health inequalities when making policy decisions. Housing has an important role to play in improving health outcomes and preventing poor health, and local leaders now have more control over this important agenda.”