Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on issuing guidance to local planning authorities on giving further weight to food production in rural planning decisions.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) safeguards the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of higher quality. Defra is working with MHCLG on policy and guidance to ensure that planning decisions made by local planning authorities are informed by the impacts on food production.

Later this year, the Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England, which will set out the evidence, data and tools needed to support development that safeguards our most productive agricultural land.