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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implementation of the agent of change planning principle at local authority level; and if he will make a statement.

The agent of change principle was introduced relatively recently, through revisions made to the National Planning Policy Framework in 2018. It makes clear that applicants for planning permission should provide suitable mitigation where the operation of an existing business or community facility could have a significant adverse effect on development proposed nearby. The implementation of planning policy is, in the first instance, a matter for local planning authorities through their development management and monitoring arrangements.