Launched quietly through a written statement in Parliament last week, you could be forgiven if the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' consultation on increasing planning fees, lost among other, admittedly more headline-grabbing announcements, escaped your attention.

Don't be fooled, though, by its modest introduction. The proposals contained could, and I hope, will, set in motion long-lasting improvements in local authority planning departments, materially benefiting the communities they serve.