Planning application fees to rise by 20% in January 2018

On 20th December the Government announced that all planning fees are to go up by 20% from 17th January 2018.
This will apply to all applications validated after 16th January (note that this is not submitted but validated by you local planning authority).

We wonder if it means there will be a 20% improvement in the service given by local planning authorities…? Hmmm…