The Infrastructure Planning (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were made on 13 May 2026, laid before Parliament on 15 May 2026 and come into force on 8 June 2026. As published on legislation.gov.uk, the statutory instrument makes a targeted adjustment to the fee rules that sit behind the Planning Act 2008 regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects. The instrument was signed by Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It does not alter the wider development consent framework. Instead, it changes who may charge fees for providing relevant services within that system.
The amendment works in two stages. First, regulation 3 inserts definitions of ‘the land’ and ‘local authority’ into the Infrastructure Planning (Fees) Regulations 2010, using the meanings already set out in section 102 of the Planning Act 2008. Second, regulation 4 amends Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations. It adds ‘a local authority in whose area the land is situated’ to the list of prescribed public authorities, immediately after Natural Resources Wales. In practical terms, that brings host local authorities into the group of bodies that may charge fees in relation to relevant services.
For applicants, the change is administrative but material. A promoter bringing forward a nationally significant infrastructure project should now assume that the host authority covering the project land may charge where the amended fee rules allow it. That will need to be reflected in project budgets, engagement plans and case management assumptions. For local government, the measure gives a clearer statutory route to recover costs linked to work on these applications. Authorities dealing with large and technically complex schemes often commit planning, legal and specialist officer time over an extended period. From 8 June 2026, host authorities will no longer sit outside the prescribed list for these purposes.
The territorial extent is wider than England alone, but it is still limited. The Regulations extend to England and Wales and, subject to a specific restriction, to Scotland. That Scottish extension applies only where it is required for the construction, other than by a gas transporter, of an oil or gas cross-country pipeline with one end in England or Wales and the other in Scotland. For most cases, the operational effect will be felt in England and Wales, but the drafting preserves coverage for this cross-border pipeline category.
The legal basis for the instrument is section 54A of the Planning Act 2008. The Explanatory Note states that section 54A was inserted by section 126(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which gave ministers the power to prescribe public authorities that may charge fees for relevant services. This 2026 amendment also sits within a recent sequence of updates to the 2010 fee regulations. The source text notes that Schedule 2 itself was inserted by the 2024 amending regulations. The present instrument therefore adds host local authorities to an existing fee structure rather than creating a new one from first principles.
The Explanatory Note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, effect on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. That signals that the department views the change as technical and contained. Even so, the real-world effect is clear enough. From 8 June 2026, councils in whose area the relevant land is situated will have an express place in the infrastructure planning fee regime. Developers and other applicants should review cost assumptions and engagement plans accordingly, while host authorities now have firmer statutory footing when charging for the services covered by the amended rules.