Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Questions 16908, 16909, 16910, 16911, 16912, 16913 and 16914, and the Answer of 15 March to Questions 18292, 18293, 18294, 18295 and 18296, if he will make an assessment of whether those responses are consistent with the requirements (a) in the Ministerial Code that Ministers should be as open as possible with parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest and (b) in the Guidance on drafting answers to parliamentary questions.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As I have previously outlined, the most up to date and comprehensive information on the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement and the revised published framework, which is what I referred the Hon Member to.
The purpose of the NPPF is to create a consistent and understood framework for development within an industry that emphasises the importance of certainty and clarity. It is, by definition, the stated position of the Government for that very reason. If the Government has further detail it wishes to impart, it will do so in the usual way.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16913 on Planning Permission: Reform and with reference to the consultation entitled Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, and paragraph 35(a) of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, if he will publish the justification for retaining 'and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development' in that Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 16908 on 11 March 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16914 on Green Belt: Planning Permission and with reference to the consultation entitled Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, and paragraph 35(a) of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, if he will publish the justification for not incorporating the words 'Green Belt boundaries are not required to be reviewed and altered if this would be the only means of meeting the objectively assessed need for housing over the plan period' in that Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 16908 on 11 March 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16908 on Green Belt: Planning Permission and with reference to the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 19 December 2023 and the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December 2023 on The Next Stage in Our Long Term Plan for Housing Update, HCWS161, if he will publish specific guidance clarifying whether local authorities being located wholly within the green belt can represent an exceptional circumstance to justify an alternative approach to using the standard method calculation when assessing housing need for the purposes of making a local plan.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 16908 on 11 March 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16912 on Planning Permission: Reform and with reference to the consultation entitled Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, and paragraph 35(a) of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, if he will publish the justification for omitting from that paragraph the words ‘so far as possible, taking into account the policies of’ in that Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 16908 on 11 March 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16911 on Planning Permission: Reform, with reference to the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 19 December 2023, for what reason the words as a minimum were omitted from paragraph 35(a).
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 16908 on 11 March 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 61 of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, whether it his policy that a local authority area being located wholly within the green belt should represent an exceptional circumstance to justify an alternative approach to using the standard method calculation when assessing housing need for the purposes of making a local plan.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend The Secretary of State (HCWS161) and the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 19th December 2023.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the consultation entitled Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, and to paragraph 35(a) of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, for what reason the words 'and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development' were not removed from that Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend The Secretary of State (HCWS161) and the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 19th December 2023.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the consultation entitled Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, and to paragraph 35(a) of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, for what reason the words 'Green Belt boundaries are not required to be reviewed and altered if this would be the only means of meeting the objectively assessed need for housing over the plan period' were omitted from that Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend The Secretary of State (HCWS161) and the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 19th December 2023.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 145 of the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2023, whether it his policy that the threshold for an exceptional circumstance would be met by a local authority area seeking to alter green belt boundaries for the purposes of making a local plan in circumstances where housing need as calculated by the standard method cannot be met having exhausted all development opportunities (a) not in the green belt and (b) in existing brownfield sites within the existing green belt boundaries.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend The Secretary of State (HCWS161) and the revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 19th December 2023.