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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement entitled Update on the Levelling Up Bill, HCWS415, published on 6 December 2022, whether local authorities which are developing a draft local plan are able to exclude sites submitted by landowners, developers, agents and site promoters which are located on green belt.

Due to the Secretary of State's role in the planning system, I cannot discuss the details of an individual Local Plan or comment on the acceptability or otherwise of individual sites. Nor can I comment on specific planning applications.

The proposals set out in the Written Ministerial Statement are now subject to public consultation, and are not at this time government policy. Any final policy changes will be confirmed once the National Planning Policy Framework is updated.