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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2015 to Question 227530, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the planning system of the decision by McDonald's to move from business to residential areas; and whether he plans to offer guidance to local authorities on taking decisions on applications for planning permission arising from that decision in this matter.

We have no plans to wage some battle against McDonalds or any other restaurant. McDonalds has 1,200 restaurants across the United Kingdom, serves millions of customers every day, and creates jobs and opportunities for local people and local businesses.

The planning system is primarily intended to control and mitigate the spatial impact of development. Councils can use their Local Plans to shape where retail development should go, ensure the right balance of use classes, and prevent any negative cumulative impact of multiple premises in the same vicinity. The Licensing Act regime also regulates the late night operation of hot food takeaways, in as far as it relates to the four specific licensing objectives (including the prevention of public nuisance).

However, the planning system is ultimately not a means for the nanny state to regulate the type of food that people eat, nor is it there to pursue some form of inverted snobbery against Big Macs.