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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60597 on Neighbourhood Plans, for what reason her Department is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.

Following the Spending Review, my Department announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.

After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we believe that support for neighbourhood planning groups should be possible without further government funding.

Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish.

With the end to the national structure for support, planning consultants should be able to innovate and offer groups lower cost support more targeted at their particular ambitions and needs.