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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what number and proportion of planning applications to build on sites in (a) Dudley, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England involved building on designated green belt land in each of the last five years.

National Statistics for planning applications in England do not indicate the number of applications for building on Green Belt.

Disregarding land re-classified as National Park (which continues to be protected), the Green Belt is 34,000 hectares larger than in 1997.

The level of Green Belt development in 2011 (the latest year for which we have available data) was at its lowest rate since modern records began in 1989 (defined as total land changing to a developed use in the Green Belt), and the Coalition Government has maintained its strong commitment to Green Belt protection.