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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions has he had with the Local Government Association on the potential merits of allowing the hospitality sector to increase provision of tables and chairs on road sides as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

On 26 June 2020, the Government introduced the Business and Planning Bill. This includes measures to streamline the pavement licence procedure, which includes a capped fee, and shorter determination period. This also includes deemed planning consent when licences are granted. On Monday 29 June this successfully passed through the Commons and will now progress to the House of Lords. MHCLG engaged with the LGA in developing this new, fast-track process. As set out in their press release of 25 June, the LGA have welcomed this process as helping to ‘ensure a consistent approach can be taken so businesses can reopen as soon as they can and people can get back to enjoying their high streets safely’.