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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to reject planning applications from developers on the basis of previous failures to (a) build and (b) maintain sustainable drainage infrastructure.

The government is committed to securing the delivery of high-quality sustainable drainage systems to help manage flood risk and adapt to the effects of climate change.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts, and that appropriate maintenance arrangements should be in place to ensure an acceptable standard of operation for the lifetime of the development.

By law, planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Each application is judged on its own individual merits and the weight given to these considerations is a matter for the local planning authority as the decision taker in the first instance.

Local planning authorities should consider the use of conditions or planning obligations to make development acceptable, which may include flood mitigation works, and have a broad range of powers to take enforcement action against breaches of planning control.