Town halls across the North now have a number to plan around. New regulations set the standard daily fee for independent examinations of local plans in England at £993. Signed by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook at 8.13am on 3 March and laid before Parliament on 4 March, the instrument comes into force on 25 March 2026.

The rules apply where a person is appointed by the Secretary of State to carry out an examination and cover both local plans and minerals and waste plans. The text is plain: “the standard daily amount… is £993”, with part‑days charged pro‑rata. Travel and subsistence are paid at cost. The same daily cap also applies to anyone appointed to provide observations or advice on a proposed plan under section 15CA of the 2004 Act.

Regulation 3 revokes the 2006 fee regulations, but Regulation 4 saves them for ‘saved examinations’-cases that continue under the previous process as preserved by the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026. In practice, if your plan is being examined under the saved Part 2 regime, the old framework still applies.

For budgets, the arithmetic is straightforward. A ten‑day hearing line sits at £9,930 before travel. Twelve days is £11,916. A longer twenty‑day run lands at £19,860. The fee also covers days spent on connected work-reading submissions, site visits and report writing-so finance leads should plan for more than just the sitting days.

For plan‑making teams seeking early observations or advice, the same £993 daily maximum applies, with reimbursement for travel and subsistence on actuals and pro‑rating for part days. That gives heads of planning a single, predictable rate across examinations and formal advice.

One point worth noting for cash‑pressed councils: the figure is not new. The 2006 Regulations stepped the daily amount to £993 from 31 March 2008, and it has remained there since. The 2026 instrument essentially re‑bases the charge within the reformed plan‑making system rather than increasing it, according to the Queen’s Printer version of S.I. 2006/3227 on legislation.gov.uk.

The provisions sit alongside the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023 changes to plan‑making, which introduced sections 15D, 15H and 15HA for examinations and extend them to minerals and waste plans via section 15CB. Government guidance indicates further detail and new digital services for examinations will roll out during 2026, so process tweaks may arrive even as fees stay flat.

For districts and counties across Yorkshire, Lancashire, the North East and Cumbria that are mid‑cycle on plan updates, the dividing line between a ‘saved examination’ and the new‑style process now matters for invoices. Confirming which regime applies before finalising 2026/27 cost lines will avoid unwelcome variances where hearings straddle late March and April.

The practical checklist is familiar: establish whether your plan is saved or under the new provisions; map likely hearing days and connected work; set a realistic travel and subsistence allowance; and decide early if you will seek formal observations or advice days. Committee papers should reference Statutory Instrument 2026/187 and note the £993 cap.

Key dates: made at 8.13am on 3 March 2026; laid before Parliament on 4 March; in force from 25 March. The instrument applies in relation to England only. For planning teams across the North, the number to plug into spreadsheets is simple: £993 a day.