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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure local communities have the ability to preserve buildings and landmarks of local historical significance.

The Government recognises the importance of identifying and managing those parts of the historic environment which are valued by local communities. Plan-making bodies can therefore identify locally important heritage assets in their area. Such assets are covered by national planning policy and must be taken into account when determining planning applications. We have recently provided funding of £1.5 million to 22 areas in England to help local authorities, working with their communities, to update and develop their local heritage lists. Good practice and lessons learned from those projects will be shared with all local authorities.