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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support the Government is providing to local planning authorities to ensure they have the expertise to manage parks and gardens casework in the absence of guaranteed specialist input.

On 18 November 2025, my Department published a consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, closed on 13 January 2026.

The consultation asked for views on the impact of removing consultee status in the planning application process from the Gardens Trust, The Theatres Trust and Sport England.

No final decisions will be taken on the role of these statutory consultees until all consultation feedback has been fully analysed and considered. A government response will be published in due course.

Regardless of consultation outcomes, these statutory consultees will continue to engage through public consultation and targeted notifications in the planning process.