The government recently published a “plan for change” which included new measures targeting major policy commitments by the government, including its 1.5 million house delivery goal.

According to the government, bypassing local planning committees would tackle “chronic uncertainty, unacceptable delays and unnecessary waste of time and resources.”

The government is also introducing a national scheme of delegation, streamlined committees for strategic development and mandatory training for planning committee members.

Local planning officers will also have enhanced decision-making roles to implement agreed planning policy.

Commenting on the plans, deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “Streamlining the approvals process by modernising local planning committees means tackling the chronic uncertainty and damaging delays that acts as a drag anchor on building the homes people desperately need.

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“Grasping the nettle of planning committee reform and fast-tracking decision-making is a vital part of our Plan for Change. Building 1.5 million homes over five years means tackling the housing crisis we inherited head-on with bold action.”

In a recent interview with the BBC, Rayner was forced to defend criticisms put to her by councils about Westminster intervention in local matters.

Rayner used the press opportunity to tell councils to “get your plans in order” and said the government planned to take away “subjectiveness” at a local level.

Commenting on the latest plans from the government, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) welcomed these as going in the right direction.

“The government’s plans are a step in the right direction and mirror approaches operating in countries such as France and Ireland where applications are primarily decided by officials against clear objectives contained in the plan,” said Tony Mulhall, senior specialist at RICS.

“These countries fulfil their democratic obligations at the Local Plan-making stage, which requires effective public participation to decide the objectives to be included in their local plan.

“Besides, substantial delegation to officers already operates in the English planning system. However, we estimate that up to three-quarters of Local Plans are out-of-date. These take time to consult on and update, and also require significant resource, which we know planning departments are lacking in.”