Councils across the North have been handed clarity today (Tuesday 24 March 2026). Fresh regulations made on Sunday 23 March keep the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regime fully operable while Whitehall’s latest plan‑making reforms roll forward. In practice, it means town halls can carry on collecting and spending CIL without changing their governance set‑up until the end of 2027.

The instrument preserves, for CIL purposes, two definitions in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 - section 29 (joint committees) and section 37 (interpretation, including “local planning authority”) - despite staged commencement of Schedule 7 to the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023. Those provisions continue to apply to CIL until 31 December 2027, avoiding a mid‑stream rewrite of who is treated as the charging authority. (legislation.gov.uk)

Why it matters here is simple: CIL is still the backbone of many Northern infrastructure budgets, and the Government’s separate Infrastructure Levy remains on a phased timetable. Ministers’ own technical consultation set expectations for ‘test and learn’ authorities from late 2024/25, with wider operation from 2025/26 - a shift that always required transitional cover. (gov.uk)

Leeds offers the clearest local picture. The council took in £9.85m of CIL in 2023/24 and deployed more than £13.6m in-year on city priorities including the Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2, the David Oluwale Bridge and school places. Those are precisely the kind of schemes that would have faced avoidable uncertainty without today’s fix. (leeds.gov.uk)

Sheffield’s latest Infrastructure Funding Statement shows £2.92m of CIL received in 2023/24, with a sizeable strategic balance carried to support pipeline projects as the new Local Plan completes examination. As that report bluntly notes - quoting national guidance - authorities “must spend the levy on infrastructure needed to support the development of their area.” (sheffield.gov.uk)

The changes also land just as York’s new charging schedule goes live. City of York Council adopted CIL in November and began charging on 1 February 2026, bringing fresh income into schemes tied to its newly adopted Local Plan. The extended saving ensures York’s governance can bed in without legal contortions. (york.gov.uk)

Beyond the city regions, North Yorkshire’s unitary council reports steady CIL flows across its four charging areas in 2024/25, with £2m directed to essential upgrades at Welburn Hall School and further allocations for sports and community facilities. Again, the regulatory breathing space to 31 December 2027 keeps that programme moving. (northyorks.gov.uk)

There’s a combined‑authority angle too. Section 29 of the 2004 Act allows plan‑making joint committees - the type that sit across district boundaries - to be treated as the local planning authority for defined purposes. With Greater Manchester’s Places for Everyone now adopted across nine districts, keeping CIL references aligned with joint arrangements avoids governance potholes while that plan filters into delivery. (legislation.gov.uk)

For planning teams, the message is to stay the course on existing charging schedules and Section 106 strategies while the new national plan‑making rules phase in. DLUHC’s own explainer emphasises saving and transitional provisions and the need to publish a Notice to Commence plan‑making by set deadlines, which today’s legal tidy‑up broadly complements. (gov.uk)

In short, this is a Northern‑friendly fix: no drama, no funding cliff‑edge, and no scramble to rejig local CIL governance while councils focus on delivery. The heavy lifting on the wider reforms - from the new plan‑making timetable to the eventual Infrastructure Levy - will follow, but for now the roads, schools and flood schemes our towns rely on can keep moving. (legislation.gov.uk)