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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure (a) peri-urban land and (b) high-quality rural land is protected for food growing through the planning system.

We place great importance on our agriculture and food production, and this is reflected in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework already requires local planning authorities to take into account all the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, then we have been clear that planning authorities should seek to use poorer quality land in preference to that of a higher quality.

Our recent consultation on a revised National Planning Policy Framework proposes a change to strengthen current policy on the consideration given to the relative value of agricultural land for food production.