17 June 2025We are bitterly disappointed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) decision to stop funding for the neighbourhood planning support programme.
This decision is a significant setback for localism and the highly successful neighbourhood planning initiative, which saw parish and town councils at the heart of the 2,400 communities, with more than 1,000 plans approved at referendum.
Locality, the membership organisation commissioned by MHCLG to deliver the support programme, has published the statement below and issued information to bodies receiving support.
MHCLG has informed us that, because of the spending review, they cannot proceed with commissioning new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards. Unfortunately, this means that we cannot receive applications for new grants or technical support. We will complete all technical support packages agreed by MHCLG by the end of March 2025, and we have until the end of March 2026 to do so, depending on the timetable for each package. We want to thank you for the role you have played as a neighbourhood planning champion in promoting the value of neighbourhood planning and supporting groups in developing neighbourhood development plans or thinking about what is right for them. Neighbourhood planning is an undeniable success, with over 2,400 communities having initiated neighbourhood plans and more than 1,000 plans having been successful at referendum. We are proud to have worked with you and supported so many groups through the process. We know it will be difficult for some groups to progress their plans in light of this news, and unfortunately, we are not able to support the Champions Network and other learning and development opportunities from now on. We wish you all the best for the future and again thank you for everything you have done. If you have any more questions about this, please can you submit them via the neighbourhood planning advice service so I can then allocate out to chartered planner colleagues accordingly.
We are currently engaging with NALC, Locality, and other organisations involved in supporting neighbourhood planning. We will provide further information as it becomes available and will continue making representations to the government.
SLCC is supporting NALC in seeking clarification about the broader future of Neighbourhood Planning initiatives and about funding to local planning authorities to support their duty to take Neighbourhood Plans to referenda.
