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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Planning Inspectorate on the timescale for (a) review and (b) response to the draft City of York local plan.

Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning process, I cannot comment on the details of an individual Local Plan, especially one that is currently being examined by an independent Inspector. In line with this the Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with the Planning Inspectorate regarding the City of York Local Plan. The independent Inspector is responsible for the examination of the plan and for considering matters raised during the examination process.

The Government wants all local authorities to have up to date local plans in place as soon as possible. To that end it has set a deadline for all local planning authorities to have up-to-date local plans by the end of 2023 and is prepared to intervene where local authorities fail to meet the deadline. This will help deliver the certainty that local communities and businesses deserve. To date, 91 per cent of local planning authorities have an adopted local plan, and 45 per cent have a local plan adopted in the last five years.

In July 2020 the Government amended regulations and planning policy guidance to remove the requirements for physical documentation when preparing local plans, and to allow virtual hearings.