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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a comprehensive review of the town centre first policy.

The town centre first policy approach has been in place for two decades and has helped to give confidence to many town centre regeneration projects across the country.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework, which was published last year, reaffirms our commitment to the town centre first approach by stating that main town centre uses should, where possible, be located in town centres.