Improving health through planning: what happens next?

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the world of public health and the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill lately. Here, Emma Cooke, our External Affairs Manager, discusses what recent events mean, and why it’s not time to give up hope just yet. 

The amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that we’ve been backing didn’t quite make it through the vote in the House of Lords. The amendment – which lost by just two votes – was aimed at creating a statutory duty for planning to address health inequalities. 

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for health and housing. The peers voted to support the Healthy Homes amendments that have been championed by the Healthy Homes Coalition. These amendments set out a new regulatory framework for housing, by ensuring that all new homes support the health of their residents. 

We fully support these amendments and hope to see them accepted by MPs when the Bill returns to the House of Commons shortly.

An appetite for strengthened policy 

Importantly, what recent events show us is that there is an acknowledgement in at least some parts of parliament that the places where we live and the health that we experience are inextricably linked… and that there is a role for national policy in making that relationship a positive one. 

True, when the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill finally gets enacted, it won’t include a statutory duty for planning to address health inequalities. But, by getting so close to the amendment passing (just two votes, remember?), it showed a real appetite for strengthened policy. And we intend to make good use of that.

Finding new paths to ensure planning addresses health

Rachel Maclean MP, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, previously stated that the government’s preference is “for these important health and well-being matters to continue to be dealt with by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).” 

So our intention is to find ways to ensure that the refreshed NPPF – and associated planning policy – does everything it can to support health and reduce health inequalities. 

As such, our response to the government’s current Plan-making reforms consultation makes clear that, right now, the proposals miss the mark when it comes to prioritising (or even acknowledging) health. 

So what needs to change in the existing proposals?

Health as a core principle in Local Plans

Well, the document states: “To support the approach outlined in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, we propose to set out, through policy and supported by guidance, a series of additional core principles around what plans should contain, to ensure plans are focused on the right things and users are able to understand clearly the ‘story’ of how the planning authority’s area will develop, what is needed to ensure development achieves the right outcomes, and how this will contribute positively to good place making and environmental enhancement.”

But there is no mention of health in the core principles it sets out. 

The proposals state that “sustainable development should run as a golden thread throughout plans”. And we agree with this statement, but suggest that it needs expanding to: “sustainable development and creating healthy places should run as golden threads throughout plans”.

Prioritising health over beauty

Further, DLUHC proposes that plans should: “foster beautiful places and recognise the importance of design, linking to design codes where appropriate”. But – as we’ve made clear previously – we believe ‘healthy places’ to be far more important than ‘beautiful places’ and want to see ‘healthy places’ prioritised here. 

By making healthy places a core principle of local plans, the government would ensure that local planning authorities use the plans to help tackle some of the many health inequalities we see across the country. And this is something that planning is so well positioned to do. 

Let’s keep pushing

The plan-making reforms consultation is open until 18 October 2023. So if you agree with us that health really ought to be prioritised in these vital local documents, make sure you let DLUHC know in your response. 

And we will keep pushing too, engaging with DLUHC as they continue on their mission to reform the planning system.