Last month, Angela Rayner, the housing secretary and deputy prime minister, unveiled the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. It represents the government’s latest attempt to reform planning and drive growth. 

The main parts of the bill include a national scheme of delegation, which will set out which types of applications should be determined by professional planning officers and which should go to the political planning committee. There will also be a nature restoration fund, to be paid for by developers, so they can meet their environmental obligations.