The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has warned that the Government’s proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) risk failing to deliver meaningful change unless National Development Management Policies (NDMPs) are given statutory status. 

ACE members have welcomed the Government’s ambition to simplify the planning system and accelerate delivery through the proposed NPPF. However, the organisation cautions that introducing NDMPs through non-statutory guidance would fall short of achieving the clarity and consistency the reforms are intended to provide. 

Without statutory status, ACE believes the reforms risk being “all bark and no bite”, leaving the planning system with many of the same structural inefficiencies that currently slow plan-making and development decisions. 

Ben Brittain, Director of Public Affairs at ACE said: “If we’re serious about speeding up the planning system and building the huge number of homes that is desperately needed, the starting point must be clarity and consistency. 

National priorities, whether that’s protecting nature or safeguarding our heritage should be set clearly at the national level, rather than being rewritten repeatedly in hundreds of separate local plans. Without this and with loosely worded guidance, the NPPF will be all bark and no bite. Giving statutory weight to National Development Management Policies would instead provide a clear, consistent framework, cut duplication and make the system simpler and easier to navigate. 

Clarity also matters when priorities collide, as they inevitably do. When every priority has the same policy weight, it makes it more difficult to balance competing interests. Clarity would provide the certainty that we need, allowing Local Plans to focus on what they do best: planning the future of our local communities and places that we call home.” 

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) is the business association for the UK’s professional consultancy and engineering companies operating in the social and economic infrastructure sectors.

We represent around 400 member companies, large and small. As the leading voice for the sector, we foster collaboration to propel the industry to fulfil its ambitions.

The sector is highly skilled, productive, and forward-looking - employing over 470,000 people and contributing more than £39 billion to the UK economy. It competes on a global stage, exporting over £11 billion, providing solutions to the world’s pressing issues and holds the key to a brighter future.