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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to Annex 14: Strategic planning, of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Impact assessment, May 2025, page 11, through what mechanism he will ensure that the new strategic authority planning documents will be kept high level.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework. The proposed Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, sets out that the content of spatial development strategies (SDSs) should be genuinely strategic in nature and allow for more detailed issues to be addressed through other parts of the development plan.

The government will provide guidance to support strategic planning authorities in meeting this expectation. SDSs will also be subject to independent examination when they will be tested against expectations in national policy.

We are currently analysing the feedback received to the consultation referenced above and will publish our response in due course.