National Development Management Policies: what they will do
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 created a power to designate national development management policies that would sit alongside the development plan and prevail over it in a conflict.
National development management policies are a statutory category created by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. Once designated, they would carry the same status in decision-making as the development plan, and where a local plan conflicted with one, the national policy would win. That is a change to the plan-led system rather than a change of policy wording, which is why practitioners have watched it closely since the Act received Royal Assent.
This piece explains the statutory scheme. It is not a status update, and the commencement position and any designated policies must be checked against the current position on gov.uk before advice is given.
What the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 provides for
The Act inserts a new section into the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 giving the Secretary of State power to designate policies as national development management policies. It also sets out the procedural requirements, including consultation and publicity before designation, with narrower requirements for revisions the Secretary of State considers minor or urgent.
Two features distinguish these policies from the National Planning Policy Framework as it stands today. The Framework is guidance, and a material consideration whose weight is a matter of judgement. A designated national development management policy would be part of the statutory decision-making framework itself.
The Act does not list the topics. That is left to the designation process, which is why the substance of any eventual set of policies is not something anyone can state in advance.
How NDMPs would sit alongside a local plan
Section 38(6) of the 2004 Act is the provision every planning submission cites. It requires determination in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The Act rewrites that duty so that the decision must be taken in accordance with the development plan and any national development management policies, unless material considerations strongly indicate otherwise. The word "strongly" is doing real work. It raises the bar for departing from the plan and from national policy together, and it narrows the space in which an applicant can argue that other considerations should carry the day.
For a planning consultant, the practical consequence is in how a Planning Statement is structured. A submission that leads with the development plan, then addresses national policy as a separate consideration, would need to present both as parts of a single statutory starting point.
The conflict rule and what it changes
Where the development plan conflicts with a national development management policy, the Act requires the conflict to be resolved in favour of the national policy. That is the provision with the sharpest edge.
At present a local plan policy that is more demanding than national guidance is generally lawful and applied, with the Framework as a material consideration. Under the new arrangement, a plan policy inconsistent with a designated national policy would be overridden to the extent of the inconsistency, without needing to wait for the plan to be reviewed.
Three questions follow, and none of them has a settled answer yet.
What counts as a conflict, as opposed to a local policy that is simply more detailed or more demanding on the same subject. How a decision-maker identifies the extent of the inconsistency, since the plan policy is not disapplied wholesale. And how neighbourhood plans, which form part of the development plan, are treated where they set local design or housing policies.
Until designated policies exist and the first appeal decisions and judgments work through, those questions are open. Anyone advising on them should say so rather than predict.
Which policies are expected to move to national level
The honest answer is that nobody outside government can say. What can be said is which kinds of policy the mechanism is designed for.
Generic development management policies appear in nearly every local plan in materially similar form. Flood risk, contaminated land, protected species, heritage assets, air quality, parking standards and amenity are all covered locally in language that largely restates national policy. Moving that category to national level is the stated purpose of shortening local plans so they concentrate on site allocations, spatial strategy and distinctly local matters.
What that means for an evidence base is limited in the short term. The reports a council asks for are driven by validation checklists, statutory consultees and the substance of national policy, so a Flood Risk Assessment or a heritage appraisal will be required for the same reasons whether the policy sits in the local plan or a national document.
Consultation and commencement position
Designation requires consultation and publicity in a manner the Secretary of State considers appropriate, together with any procedural requirements set by regulations. Provisions in the Act come into force by commencement regulations, and different provisions can be brought into force at different times.
So there are two separate questions to check before relying on any of this. Whether the relevant provisions are in force. And whether any policies have actually been designated, because the power existing is not the same as it having been used.
Both are matters of public record. The Act itself, with its commencement information, is on legislation.gov.uk, and ministerial statements and consultation responses are published on gov.uk. The UK planning law updates timeline is a convenient place to follow reform news, though the primary sources are the ones to cite in a submission.
What plan makers are doing in the meantime
Councils preparing plans have had to work with an unresolved position for some time. Three approaches are visible in practice.
Some authorities are proceeding with policies drafted in the traditional way, on the basis that a plan cannot be held back indefinitely for a reform that has not landed. Some are trimming policies that restate national policy, on the view that they will be superseded and add length without adding control. And some are including a general clause explaining how the plan is to be read against future national policies, which is a drafting solution rather than a legal one.
Inspectors at examination have to test soundness against the framework that exists at the time, which is why a plan cannot be found unsound for failing to anticipate policies that have not been designated.
How to check the current status before relying on it
Do this properly rather than from memory, because this is exactly the area where a confident assertion from an old note causes problems.
- Open the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 on legislation.gov.uk and read the commencement information attached to the relevant sections.
- Check the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as amended, so you are reading section 38 in its current form rather than the original.
- Search gov.uk for any consultation on national development management policies and for the government response.
- Check the current National Planning Policy Framework, published on 17 August 2026, for any statement about the relationship between it and future designated policies.
- Note the date you checked in the file, because the position moves.
Illustrative example: an applicant argues that a local plan policy requiring a higher standard than national policy should be given reduced weight because national development management policies are coming. That argument fails today, because weight attaches to what exists. It would only bite once a conflicting policy is designated and in force, and even then only to the extent of the conflict.
This is general guidance, not legal advice, and the commencement position may have changed since it was written. Check the current legislation and any designated policies, or take advice from a qualified professional, before relying on it.
Whatever the policy framework, the evidence base stays the same. Browse the report types by category to see what an application normally needs.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What is a national development management policy?
It is a policy designated by the Secretary of State under a power inserted into the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. Once designated, it forms part of the statutory decision-making framework rather than sitting outside it as guidance, which is how the National Planning Policy Framework operates.
How would the conflict rule work?
Where the development plan conflicts with a national development management policy, the Act requires the conflict to be resolved in favour of the national policy. The plan policy is not deleted, but it is overridden to the extent of the inconsistency. How wide a conflict has to be before the rule bites has not yet been tested in decisions or in court.
Does section 38(6) still apply?
In amended form. The duty becomes a requirement to determine in accordance with the development plan and any national development management policies, unless material considerations strongly indicate otherwise. Adding the word strongly raises the threshold for departing from the plan, which affects how a case for a departure has to be argued.
Have any national development management policies been designated?
That has to be checked against current sources rather than taken from any article. Look at the commencement information for the relevant sections on legislation.gov.uk and search gov.uk for consultations and responses. A power existing in an Act is not the same as it having been exercised, and the two are easily confused.
Should local plans still include development management policies?
Councils are taking different views. Some continue drafting in the traditional way, some are trimming policies that restate national policy, and some include a clause explaining how the plan should be read against future national policies. Inspectors test soundness against the framework in force at examination, not against anticipated reform.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.