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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to dispense with the need for community referendums to ratify neighbourhood plans during the covid-19 pandemic.

The Department has no plans to remove the requirement for neighbourhood planning referendums during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is important that communities have the final say on whether plans should be brought in to force. Regulations that postpone referendums until May 2021 will continue to be kept under review. We have made it clear in planning guidance that neighbourhood plans awaiting referendum can be given significant weight in planning decisions.