Pennycook writes to Planning Inspectorate chief on the new NPPF

Minister of State Matthew Pennycook has written to Planning Inspectorate chief executive Graham Stallwood about the new National Planning Policy Framework and the Inspectorate's role in embedding the new approach into day-to-day development management, the housing ministry said on 7 October.

According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the two-page letter covers how the new Framework sets out national planning policy more clearly and comprehensively, and highlights the elements intended to support the government's aims on boosting housing supply and economic growth.

The ministry said the letter also recognises the role the Inspectorate plays in embedding the new approach into day-to-day development management. The letter applies to England.

The new Framework

The rewritten National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 17 August 2026, and MHCLG said its decision-making policies came into effect the same day so that they would have an immediate impact. The government said the new policies are intended to make development management more certain, consistent and streamlined.

The Framework followed a consultation that ran from 16 December 2025 to 10 March 2026. It replaces the previous NPPF, first published in March 2012 and revised in 2018, 2019, 2021, twice in 2023 and in December 2024, and it also replaces the separate planning policy for traveller sites.

The Framework's chapter on achieving sustainable development sets out its decision-making policies. Policy S3 requires decisions on development proposals to apply a presumption in favour of sustainable development, and says proposals that accord with both an up-to-date development plan and the Framework's decision-making policies should be approved without delay.

Policy S4 says development proposals within settlements should be approved unless the benefits would be substantially outweighed by adverse effects. Outside settlements, policy S5 allows only certain listed forms of development to be approved.

The 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test results were published alongside the new Framework, with the 2025 results used for decision-making, MHCLG said. The ministry said the December 2024 revision had already introduced a new standard method for assessing housing need, aligned to a more ambitious national housing target.

The Inspectorate's figures

In its annual report and accounts for 2025/26, the Inspectorate said it made 19,600 decisions and granted permission on appeal for 23,000 homes during the year.

It cut its open appeals caseload from 11,400 to 9,400 cases over the same period, and said local plan examinations that once took 31 months to complete now take 19.

Measure	Figure
Open appeals caseload, start of 2025/26	11,400 cases
Open appeals caseload, end of 2025/26	9,400 cases
Decisions made in 2025/26	19,600
Homes granted permission on appeal in 2025/26	23,000

The GOV.UK digital appeals service opened to all local planning authorities across England during 2025/26, the Inspectorate said.

The recipient

Stallwood was appointed permanent chief executive of the Planning Inspectorate in July 2026, after more than six months as interim chief executive and three years as chief operating officer.

Ben Alexander, chair of the Planning Inspectorate Board, said at the time: "I am delighted to welcome Graham as permanent Chief Executive."

What happens next

The letter is published as correspondence on GOV.UK alongside the Framework itself. An accessible version of the new NPPF was added to the government's publication page on 29 September 2026, and the consultation page was updated on 17 August with the government response and the updated Framework.