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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential risks to rural landscapes posed by removing the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee in the English planning system.

On 17 November 2025, my Department published a consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system. That consultation closed on 13 January 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.

No decision will be made on the Garden Trust’s role until responses to the consultation have been fully analysed and considered.