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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of planning guidance in accounting for the potential presence of undocumented military remains where local authority records are known to be incomplete.

My Department has made no specific assessment of the adequacy of planning guidance in accounting for the potential presence of undocumented military remains where local authority records are known to be incomplete.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning authorities (LPAs) should require developers to undertake appropriate assessments where a development site includes, or has the potential to include, heritage assets with archaeological interest.

LPAs should also maintain, or have access to, a historic environment record containing up-to-date evidence about the historic environment in their area. This should be used to predict the likelihood that currently unidentified heritage assets, particularly sites of historic and archaeological interest, will be discovered in the future.