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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her oral statement of 30 July 2024 on Building homes, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on the last date at which a local plan should have been revised in order to be considered up-to-date.

To progress toward our ambition of universal local plan coverage, the Government has made clear that it will drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible.

Local planning authorities should continue to progress their plans to adoption under the existing system without delay and we reaffirm our commitment to supporting them in getting plans in place.

To enable local planning authorities to respond to any changes that might be made following the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, the Government have proposed transitional arrangements for emerging plans in preparation. This will ensure that plans at more advanced stages of preparation can maintain progress, while maximising proactive planning for the homes our communities need.

If taken forward, we recognise that these transitional arrangements would require some local planning authorities to undertake unforeseen additional work and reopen engagement with communities. In such a scenario, the Government has made clear that it would provide direct funding support to help these authorities progress their plans to examination quickly.

While we hope the need will not arise, we have made clear that we are willing to make full use of available intervention powers – including taking over an authority’s plan making directly – if local plans are not progressed as required.