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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the importance of Local Government’s role in the (a) development of local plans and (b) determination of planning applications; and what assessment he has made of the impact of that role on the (i) strength of local democracy (ii) strength of local communities and (iii) planning outcomes.

Local government plays a pivotal role in the operation of the planning system, through the preparation of local plans and the decisions taken on planning applications. In both cases, it is essential to involve communities to ensure that development is brought forward in a way that works best for them. Recognising this, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill strengthens the role of democratically produced plans when making decisions on planning applications, so that applicants will need to give strong reasons to go against the local plan.