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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on planning policy for agricultural land of grades 1-3a.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a range of issues.

The government places great importance upon our agricultural land and food production.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of the Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system).

Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality.

The Land Use Framework published on the 18 March 2026 sets out a long-term, strategic approach to using England’s finite land more efficiently to meet the country’s needs for housing, infrastructure, food production, climate resilience and nature recovery.