Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his proposal to raise the threshold for consultation from 150 to 250 units would override an exclusion zone in a local plan.

Our consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system seeks views on raising the threshold for consulting Active Travel England on residential development from 150 to 250 units. It is expected that this will focus resources on sites which are most likely to be able to benefit from Active Travel England’s advice on enhanced active travel opportunities. No decisions will be made until we have fully considered views on the impacts of these proposals. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 13 January 2026.