Opposition councillors in Stoke-on-Trent have criticised new national planning rules which will reduce councillors’ role in deciding applications and remove their power to call controversial proposals into committee.
What’s new: New planning regulations coming into force across England on 31 October will mean fewer applications are decided by councillors and remove ward members’ ability to call applications into committee.
Why it matters: Conservative and Reform UK councillors in Stoke-on-Trent argue the changes could reduce their ability to represent residents, particularly over controversial developments.
The big picture: City council leaders say the practical impact in Stoke-on-Trent will be limited because most planning applications are already determined by officers.
This article is based on reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a BBC funded initiative set up to strengthen reporting on local democratic issues. The Staffordshire Signal has taken part in the scheme since September 2026, which means we're able to draw on a selection of LDRS stories alongside our own.
Opposition councillors have criticised national changes to planning rules as a ‘slippery slope’.
New regulations will come into force across England on 31 October that will mean fewer planning decisions will be taken by councillors in future.
Ward councillors will also lose the power to ‘call in’ controversial applications to the planning committee.
The government says the changes will speed up planning decisions and accelerate development, but critics believe they undermine local democracy.
Elected members at Labour-run Stoke-on-Trent City Council voted to update the authority’s own rules to align with national policy at their meeting on Thursday.
But opposition Conservative and Reform UK councillors condemned the new regulations, saying that they would reduce their ability to represent residents.
Tory councillor Dave Evans is particularly concerned due to his Baddeley, Milton and Norton ward containing several controversial sites earmarked for housing in the draft local plan.
He said: “I worry about the national trend from the current government of removing anything they see as a block from the planning system. The ‘block’ in this case is democracy, effectively – the democratic right of elected councillors to call in applications. If you stop asking people a question because you don’t like the answer they’re giving you, you’re on a bit of a slippery slope.
“I wouldn’t vote for anything that could end my residents’ ability to call in application on Green Belt land in Norton Green and Ball Green.”
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