After a two and a half year long campaign, Daisy Cooper MP has heralded a proposed change in the law to stop taxpayers from having to subsidise big developers as a “victory for taxpayers and common sense.”
Throughout this time, Daisy has campaigned to scrap a government-imposed cap on the planning fees that local authorities can charge big developers.
In 2020-21 the cap led to St Albans District Council taxpayers subsidising developers to the tune of £3.2 million each year.
Alongside exposing this immense cost to St Albans District taxpayers, Daisy also forced the previous Conservative government (in October 2022) to reveal that this was costing council taxpayers across the country a whopping £2 billion each year.
Since then, Daisy has fought to scrap the government-imposed cap which is not only hitting residents hard at a time when living costs are soaring, but limiting funds available for the St Albans District Council (SADC) planning department to consider applications and conduct enforcement activity.
The government has finally heard Daisy’s calls and announced their plans to scrap this cap as part of their Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
Daisy said:
“I’m delighted to have finally won this long-running campaign.
“The cost-of-living crisis continues to impact St Albans residents, so it’s outrageous that alongside this, local taxpayers have been subsidising big developers to the tune of millions of pounds each year.
“At the same time, the planning fees cap is starving our district council of vital resources to support them in considering and enforcing planning decisions on major developments. It’s a lose-lose situation – costing local residents and putting pressures on key services our council delivers.
“The government’s decision to finally scrap this nonsensical cap is a victory for taxpayers and for common sense.
“It’s a huge relief that after years of campaigning my calls for this have been recognised, but this change cannot come soon enough. I’ll keep urging the government to drive this forward as a priority.”
Throughout her campaigning on this issue, Daisy presented a Bill to Parliament (the Planning Application Fees Bill) which would have allowed local authorities to set their own fees, to ensure that the planning department could charge fees that would cover the full costs of determining the application. She also tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up Bill, which would have made this change, and met with the Minister for Housing and Planning, in April 2023 to press the case again.
But the Conservatives failed to back either, passing up the opportunity to protect taxpayers from subsidising developers and instead just raising the cap on fees. Since then, Daisy has fought hard for this to finally be scrapped altogether.
Victoria Collins, MP for the neighbouring constituency of Harpenden & Berkhamsted, joined these calls to scrap the cap by starting a petition to let local authorities set their own fees to ensure that the planning function can fund themselves, freeing up money to spend on other vital community services.
Victoria added:
“Local councils like ours have already seen their budgets cut after years of Conservative government.
“In this context it’s shocking that the cap on planning fees was allowed to continue, stopping vital funds from reaching our council when they are already pushed to the limit.
“That’s why I’ve been calling for this fee cap to be scrapped altogether, to free up funding for the council’s other statutory functions by relieving pressures on the Planning Department, alongside ending this unfair cost to local taxpayers. And I’m glad to see the government has finally recognised this.
“Currently, under government rules, any additional funds from scrapping the cap must be ring fenced for spending on planning, but this change also has the potential to free up resources for spending on other vital services our council provides. I will continue to campaign for more powers to local authorities and our communities.”