National Planning Policy Framework: 2026 revisions

At the end of 2025, the Government published proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system.

These proposals were subject to consultation in early 2026. Given the strong expertise of IES members, we submitted a response to the consultation informed by the views and insights of members working across specialisms.

We also supported the National Contaminated Land Officers' Group (NCLOG) to submit its own response.

These proposals are important and come in the context of a range of linked changes in the policy world, including:

• A revised Environmental Improvement Plan for England (EIP)
• The Planning & Infrastructure Act
• The Devolution Bill and reforms to local authorities
• England's Water White Paper and the Welsh Green Paper for Water
• Previous reforms to the NPPF in recent years, as well as changes through the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act that include the prospect of a shift from Environmental Impact Assessment to Environmental Outcomes Reports

Find out more about the latest policy developments by reading Essential Environment.

Executive summary

• The IES supports the Government’s objective to create a planning system that promotes sustainable development while tackling social and economic challenges, like the housing crisis, as well as environmental challenges, like climate change. 
• That objective will be essential to achieving a future with thriving people, a healthy economy, and a flourishing environment.
• We support a transformative approach, and we believe many of the proposed changes contribute towards that goal. Several changes make meaningful contributions towards a more strategic and holistic approach to planning. 
• We strongly support the approach to pollution risk taken in policy P3, the broad approach to future planning in policy TR6, and the approach to cross-boundary cooperation in policies PM10 and PM11.
• We are concerned that the removal of several smaller discretionary levers adds up to a significant reduction in the flexibility of local authorities to take innovative and ambitious approaches that might make more sense locally, have the ability to promote growth, and which may be essential to meeting national targets. Full details are set out in our response to question 20.
• We also have concerns about the approach to air pollution, where national targets are used as proxies in parts of the proposed NPPF for the wider objective of improving air quality and human health. We believe this will lead to unintended consequences and unnecessary risks to human health and the environment. Full details are set out in our response to question 165.
• Where the proposals make positive progress, we also believe there are further opportunities to strengthen those proposals and create a more coherent approach overall. One key opportunity is the inclusion of soil health in several parts of the NPPF and supporting policies.

Read the full response for more information.

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