The Oxford Local Plan 2045 examination is moving from written material into public hearings, with the Inspectors now setting out the questions they want tested and fixing a two-stage hearing programme.
Oxford City Council submitted the plan for examination on 14th July 2026. The examination library now records the publication of the Inspectors’ Matters, Issues and Questions, known as MIQs, and confirms that Stage 1 hearings will run from 20th to 23rd October 2026.
Stage 2 is programmed to run from 24th November to 11th December 2026, with the detailed Stage 2 hearing programme still to be published. None of this means the Inspectors have found the plan sound or unsound. The examination is still in progress.
Oxford Local Plan hearings start on 20th October
The first stage is scheduled for Tuesday 20th October to Friday 23rd October 2026. Oxford says the hearings will be held in person at the King’s Centre, Osney Mead, and can be observed by members of the public.
Stage 1 concentrates on the foundations of the plan: legal compliance, housing and employment needs, and the spatial strategy. These are central questions because they affect the basis on which many later policies and site choices have been prepared.
Stage 2 is programmed from Tuesday 24th November to Friday 11th December 2026. Oxford’s guidance says those hearings will cover site allocations and development management policies, with a detailed Stage 2 programme to follow.
What are Matters, Issues and Questions?
MIQs are the Inspectors’ agenda for the examination. They identify the main matters they want to investigate, the issues within those matters and the specific questions that need answers.
They are important because they show where the Inspectors want evidence, explanation or testing. Participants preparing written statements or appearing at hearings can see the questions around which the discussion will be organised.
MIQs are not findings. A question about housing need, legal compliance or the spatial strategy does not mean the Inspector has already decided there is a problem. It means the point is being examined.
Our guide to Local Plan examinations explains the role of the Inspector, written statements, hearing sessions, modifications and the final report.
The plan was submitted on 14th July 2026
Oxford submitted the Local Plan 2045 and its supporting documents to the Secretary of State on 14th July 2026. The examination has since been building through written correspondence, procedural documents and the examination library.
The move to a fixed hearing programme is therefore the important new development. It gives the examination a public timetable and identifies the first group of questions that will be tested orally.
Housing, employment and spatial strategy will be tested first
The first hearing stage puts housing and employment needs and the spatial strategy alongside legal compliance. That matters in a tightly constrained city such as Oxford because the amount of housing needed, the employment strategy and where the plan proposes to accommodate growth are closely connected.
The hearings are the place for the Inspectors to test evidence and hear the parties on disputed points. They are not a council committee meeting and they are not a referendum on individual policies.
Our wider Local Plans guide explains how plans are prepared, examined and adopted, while our development plan guide explains why an adopted Local Plan matters when planning applications are decided.
No soundness conclusion has been reached
It is easy to overread the publication of MIQs. Inspectors often ask difficult or detailed questions because that is their job. The fact that a subject has a hearing session does not tell us what the eventual conclusion will be.
The examination remains live. The Inspectors may seek further evidence, ask for changes or modifications, or ultimately reach conclusions in their report after the hearing process has finished.
For landowners, residents and organisations already involved in the examination, the practical step is to work from the official examination library and the Inspectors’ latest procedural instructions rather than older consultation material.
The Planning Geek takeaway
Oxford has now reached the stage where its submitted plan will be tested through a defined public hearing programme. Stage 1 begins on 20th October 2026, with Stage 2 beginning on 24th November.
The MIQs tell participants what the Inspectors want to investigate. They do not prejudge the outcome.
Read Oxford City Council’s Local Plan 2045 examination library. Planning Geek also hosts local copies of the Regulation 24 hearing notice, Stage 1 hearing programme, Stage 1 MIQs and Stage 1 examination guidance.
Created: 10th September 2026
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