New NPPF: What Local Councils Need to Know

Designed to help councillors, clerks and employees understand the new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the key national planning document.

In August 2026, the goverenment published the new framework which contains the most substantial rewrite of planning rules in at least a decade. The course will explain the main changes focusing on those with the greatest implications for the local council sector. The new framework aims to increase certainty and consistency, standardise national policies and reduce unnecessary duplication and unjustified local variation in the planning system. It also includes reforms intended to boost housing supply, unlock economic growth and support sustainable development.