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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average cost has been for the development of neighbourhood plans by town and parish councils in each of the last three years.

The Government does not hold this data. Research on a sample of early plans carried out by the Department in 2014 showed the costs of producing neighbourhood plans ranged from £4,000 to just under £30,000 for more complex plans, with the average being under £15,000. Case studies of the cost of neighbourhood plans can be found at: https://mycommunity.org.uk/?s=total+spend

The Government’s new £23 million support programme for neighbourhood planning (2018-2022) will provide resources and expertise to enable communities to plan for the future of their areas.