Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Harriet Cross and Matthew Pennycook

Monday 14th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

22. What plans she has to increase community involvement in the planning process.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

The Government strongly encourage broad community engagement in the planning process, and we want to see greater public participation in the development of local plans in particular. We are currently exploring new ways to increase and enhance community engagement in the planning process, including by improving access to planning data through its digitisation.

[Harriet Cross]

I am sure the Minister agrees it is vital that local residents’ concerns are properly listened to, especially on major planning decisions. Having listened to many constituents in places such as New Deer, Kintore and Rothienorman who are facing huge amounts of energy infrastructure, I tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that would have created a statutory duty of consultation for infrastructure in Scotland. In Committee, the Minister argued against it and said that the Scottish Government’s discretionary power was satisfactory. Will he please explain why the Government believe that a discretionary power, which my constituents fear will simply be ignored, provides meaningful engagement while the statutory right that I proposed would not?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I can do no better than to draw the hon. Lady’s attention to the extensive remarks that I made in the Bill Committee.