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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of planning regulations that allow temporary events that alter the streetscape in (a) town squares and (b) other spaces on levels of disorientation for the visually impaired.

In relation to the pavement licence regime, we have worked closely with groups, including the RNIB and Guide Dogs, in preparing guidance which sets out considerations that local authorities should take into account when determining applications. This includes specific considerations for the impact that licences will have on disabled people, including the visually impaired.

There are existing national permitted development rights which enable the temporary use of land for a range of purposes, such as markets and temporary events, and which allow the provision of associated moveable structures on the land. We expect local authorities to act proportionately and in accordance with their own equality duties when undertaking development in their authority area.