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The Requirement to Assist with Certain Plan Making (Prescribed Public Bodies) (England) Regulations 2026

S.I. 2026/188 · Made 3 March 2026

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

MARINE MANAGEMENT, ENGLAND

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING, ENGLAND

Made at 8.11 a.m. on 3rd March 2026

Laid before Parliament 4th March 2026

Coming into force 25th March 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 39A(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004f1.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2004 c. 5. Section 39A was inserted by section 100 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (c. 55). Section 122(1) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c. 5) provides that a power to prescribe is a power to prescribe by regulations, exercisable by the Secretary of State in relation to England or the Welsh Ministers in relation to Wales.

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement, extent and application
  2. 2Prescribed public bodies
  3. Signature
  4. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement, extent and application

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Requirement to Assist with Certain Plan Making (Prescribed Public Bodies) (England) Regulations 2026.

(2)

These Regulations come into force on 25th March 2026.

(3)

These Regulations extend to England and Wales and apply in relation to England only.

2Prescribed public bodies

(1)

The public bodies prescribed for the purposes of section 39A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 are—

(a)

Active Travel Englandf1;

(b)

Canal & River Trustf2;

(c)

the Civil Aviation Authorityf3;

(d)

the Coal Authorityf4;

(e)

the English Sports Councilf5;

(f)

the Environment Agencyf6;

(g)

the Forestry Commissionf7;

(h)

a highway authority within the meaning in section 1 of the Highways Act 1980f8, any part of whose area is in or adjoins the area to which the relevant planf9 relates (including the Secretary of State, where the Secretary of State is the highway authority);

(i)

the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for Englandf10;

(j)

the Homes and Communities Agencyf11;

(k)

if it exercises functions in the area to which the relevant plan relates—

(i)

an integrated care board established under Chapter A3 of Part 2 of the National Health Service Act 2006f12;

(ii)

a person to whom a licence has been granted under section 6 (1) (b) or (c) of the Electricity Act 1989f13 (licences authorising supply, etc.);

(iii)

a person to whom a licence has been granted under section 7 (2) of the Gas Act 1986f14 (licensing of public gas transporters);

(iv)

a sewerage undertaker appointed under section 6 (1) of the Water Industry Act 1991f15;

(v)

a water undertaker appointed under section 6 (1) of the Water Industry Act 1991;

(l)

an Integrated Transport Authority for an integrated transport area within the meaning in section 77 (1) of the Local Transport Act 2008f16, which is in or adjoins the area to which the relevant plan relates;

(m)

a lead local flood authority for all or part of the area to which the relevant plan relates;

(n)

a local authority with responsibility for discharging education functions for all or part of the area to which the relevant plan relates;

(o)

the Marine Management Organisationf17;

(p)

the Mayor of London;

(q)

Natural Englandf18;

(r)

Network Rail Infrastructure Limitedf19;

(s)

the Office for Nuclear Regulationf20;

(t)

the Office of Rail and Roadf21;

(u)

the responsible authority for a local nature recovery strategy that relates to all or part of the area to which the relevant plan relates appointed under section 105 (2) of the Environment Act 2021f22;

(v)

Transport for Londonf23;

(w)

a relevant authority any part of whose area is in or adjoins the area to which the relevant plan relates.

(2)

In this Regulation—

  • “the area to which the relevant plan relates” means—

    1. (a)

      in relation to a local plan or policies map, the local planning authority’s areaf24;

    2. (b)

      in relation to a minerals and waste plan, the minerals and waste planning authority’s relevant areaf25;

    3. (c)

      in relation to a supplementary planf26, the area, site or sites to which the plan relates;

    4. (d)

      in relation to a marine plan, the English inshore region, the English offshore region or any part of either of those regionsf27;

  • “education functions” means the functions specified in Schedule 36A to the Education Act 1996f28;

  • “Integrated Transport Authority” means—

    1. (a)

      an authority which is known as an Integrated Transport Authority as a result of section 77(2) of the Local Transport Act 2008 (change of name of passenger transport areas and PTAs), or

    2. (b)

      an authority established under Part 5 of that Act (Integrated Transport Authorities etc.);

  • “lead local flood authority” means—

    1. (a)

      the unitary authority for the area, or

    2. (b)

      if there is no unitary authority, the county council for the area;

  • “local authority” means—

    1. (a)

      a county council;

    2. (b)

      a metropolitan district councilf29;

    3. (c)

      a non-metropolitan district council for an area for which there is no county councilf30;

    4. (d)

      a London borough council;

    5. (e)

      the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority;

  • “local policing body” means—

    1. (a)

      a police and crime commissioner elected under section 1 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011f31;

    2. (b)

      the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime established under section 3 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011;

    3. (c)

      the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a police authority;

  • “relevant authority” means—

    1. (a)

      a local planning authority;

    2. (b)

      a minerals and waste planning authority;

    3. (c)

      a local policing body;

    4. (d)

      a combined authority established under section 103 (1) of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009f32;

    5. (e)

      a combined county authority established under section 9 (1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023f33;

  • “unitary authority” means—

    1. (a)

      the council of a county for which there are no district councils;

    2. (b)

      the council of a district in an area for which there is no county council;

    3. (c)

      the council of a London borough;

    4. (d)

      the Common Council of the City of London;

    5. (e)

      the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

Signature

Signed by the authority of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Matthew Pennycook

Minister of State

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

at 8.11 a.m. on 3rd March 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 39A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c. 5) (“the Act”), as inserted by section 100 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (c. 55), established a power for a plan-making authority to notify a prescribed public body in writing that the authority requires the body to assist the authority in relation to the preparation or revision of a relevant plan under section 39A(5) of the Act by the authority. Where this power is exercised, the prescribed public body must do everything that the plan-making authority reasonably requires of the body to assist the authority in relation to the preparation or revision of the relevant plan.

These Regulations prescribe the persons and bodies who are a “prescribed public body” for the purposes of section 39A of the Act and therefore can be subject to a notification under section 39A(1) requiring assistance in relation to the preparation of a relevant plan.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment under the Better Regulation Framework has not been produced for this instrument. The Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 provides analysis of the primary legislative measures from which the measures set out in this instrument derive. Copies can be obtained at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0169/LevellingUpandRegenerationBillImpactAssessment.pdf or from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF. The Annexes to that document can be obtained at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0169/LevellingUpandRegenerationBillImpactAssessmentAnnexes.pdf or from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.