The Infrastructure Planning (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 make a targeted change to the charging framework for nationally significant infrastructure projects. According to the statutory instrument, the Regulations were made on 13 May 2026, laid before Parliament on 15 May 2026 and come into force on 8 June 2026. In practical terms, the amendment expands the list of bodies able to charge fees for relevant services under the Infrastructure Planning (Fees) Regulations 2010. The Explanatory Note states that the new addition is the local authority in whose area the land is situated, described there as the host local authority.
The legal amendment is brief but precise. Regulation 3 inserts definitions of the land and local authority into the interpretation provision of the 2010 Regulations, using the meanings already set out in section 102(9) and section 102(8) of the Planning Act 2008. Regulation 4 then amends Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations. That schedule lists the prescribed public authorities able to charge fees in relation to relevant services, and the 2026 amendment adds the local authority for the area where the land is located.
This does not create a new development consent route, change the thresholds for nationally significant infrastructure projects, or alter the substantive tests applied to applications. The effect is narrower than that. It changes who may recover fees within an existing statutory framework. That distinction matters for applicants, local government officers and advisers. The amendment is about fee-charging status for relevant services, not the creation of a new general planning charge across the wider system.
The territorial extent is also tightly drawn. The Regulations extend to England and Wales and, in Scotland, only so far as necessary for certain cross-border oil or gas pipelines where one end is in England or Wales and the other is in Scotland, excluding construction by a gas transporter. For most schemes, the operational effect will sit within the England and Wales infrastructure planning regime. The Scotland provision appears to preserve the reach of the legislation where the Planning Act 2008 framework applies to cross-border pipeline development.
For host local authorities, the amendment provides a clearer statutory route to recover fees when supplying relevant services on major infrastructure projects. That is likely to be most important where an authority is expected to commit staff time to land-related issues, local impacts or other case-specific work within the development consent process. For project promoters, the immediate issue is not a change in policy direction but a change in cost allocation. Where a scheme involves land in a local authority area, that authority can now fall within the prescribed public authority fee regime, so assumptions on application budgets and engagement costs may need to be updated before commencement on 8 June.
The statutory basis for the instrument is section 54A of the Planning Act 2008, a power inserted by section 126(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The Explanatory Note also records that Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations was inserted in 2024, which means this amendment builds on a relatively recent fee structure rather than introducing a wholly new model. The instrument was signed by Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, on behalf of the Secretary of State. No full impact assessment has been produced, with the Explanatory Note stating that no impact, or no significant impact, on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. On the face of the instrument, that points to an administrative adjustment with practical significance for cost recovery by host local authorities involved in nationally significant infrastructure cases.