I am writing this on the day that Boris has resigned – and so a day after the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities went down to having just a single Minister in post! It neatly sums up a frankly ridiculous year on the planning policy front.

Firstly, the previous Robert Jenrick-led proposed reforms were all but abandoned after pretty much everyone thought they were largely unworkable. Then we had Michael Gove in post in a substantially beefed-up department who eventually published much-revised and watered-down planning reforms, who only a few weeks later was sacked! We now have Greg Clark in post, but given we will face a new Prime Minister in only a matter of weeks, that is likely to be followed by a major reshuffle again.

In the meantime, the Expert Panel has continued its work, and we were asked to identify three priority areas to be developed as part of the New London Agenda. It was a fascinating discussion as everyone put their ideas into the melting pot, and actually, three clear consensus areas did emerge:

The panel now intends to develop each of these themes into a series of recommendations during the course of the next year, as well as monitor and respond to key consultations on planning reform or other areas of relevance. It’s likely to be a fascinating year ahead.