National Planning Policy Framework

Neil Carmichael Excerpts

Tuesday 27th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Yes, it will remove the imposition from the regional strategies and other top-down targets, and will also allow the designation of locally valued green space, in the way that my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) specified.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

In welcoming the statement, let me draw attention to the fact that good local plans depend on good local information, good local analysis of economic circumstances and good evaluation of jobs, employment and how industry is developing. When we finally get rid of the regional spatial strategy—hopefully it will be completely and utterly obliterated—what encouragement will the Minister give to local authorities to capture all that information, use it locally and ensure that it is generated locally, so that they understand their local communities and businesses, and know exactly what the social issues are in their areas?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. One of the themes of the national planning policy framework is that evidence should support plans and decisions. Evidence that has been captured over time should be available to all the authorities that shared the old regional boundaries, and they will want to keep it updated so that they can benefit from it in making their plans and decisions.