Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to permitted development rights in 2013 on the roll-out of 4G mobile services; and what plans he has to assess whether further reforms of such rights would facilitate further roll-out of such services.

On 10 July, the Government’s Productivity Plan set out its ambitions for mobile connectivity in England and launched the Review of 'How the Planning System in England Can Support the Delivery of Mobile Connectivity'. We sought views on the ability of the planning system to deliver and support mobile connectivity, the effectiveness of the changes made in 2013, and evidence on technical and operational factors, which may be limiting deployment.

We received responses from mobile network operators and associated industry, local authorities, countryside groups and others. We are considering the evidence submitted and will announce the outcome of the planning review in due course.