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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Planning Act to include the infrastructural requirements of the emergency services.

Emergency services infrastructure is usually consented under the relevant town and country planning legislation. My Department is currently consulting on a new vision for the planning system, which proposes significant changes to the planning process, aiming to offer greater certainty and speed to those who use the planning system, including emergency services.

The Planning Act 2008 established the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects planning regime. This is a separate consenting regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects in the fields of energy, transport, water, waste water and waste.