Plans, Policies and Inter-governmental Relations: Assessing the Role of National Planning Guidance in England and Wales

The provision of national planning guidance from central government to local authorities and property developers to shape urban land-use policy and practice has been a feature of the planning system in Britain since the 1940s. This guidance, however, has not been released in any consistent form and has occasionally been subject to criticism by commentators. While the original role of national planning advice was to provide strategic direction, central government has modified its planning remit and has recently utilised its land-use obligation to set parameters on detailed planning control and policy matters at the local level. The nature of central government intervention in local land-use matters has therefore changed over time. The current form of national advice in England and Wales is contained within the series of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs). This research paper considers the role and significance of PPGs in planning practice at the local district authority level of policy-making and determination, particularly in relation to the introduction of recent planning legislation. It will show that the government's use of PPGs to provide strategic national direction in planning has been widely accepted by professional officers throughout the country. But there still remains uncertainty over the government's reliance on PPGs to intervene in detailed local planning issues.