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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Written Ministerial Statement of 6 December 2022, HCWS415, on Update on the Levelling Up Bill, what guidance his Department issues on whether the Planning Inspectorate can give substantial weight to that Statement when examining appeals of a refusal of permission for a development on green belt land in instances where there is not a currently adopted local plan and when housing need as calculated by the currently calculated housing targets cannot be demonstrably satisfied.

Due to the Secretary of State's role in the planning system, I cannot discuss the details of an individual Local Plan or comment on the acceptability or otherwise of individual sites. Nor can I comment on specific planning applications.

The proposals set out in the Written Ministerial Statement are now subject to public consultation, and are not at this time government policy. Any final policy changes will be confirmed once the National Planning Policy Framework is updated.