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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure the provision of adequate funding to support (a) up-to-date local plans and (b) high-quality design codes.

Within weeks of taking office, the government consulted on increasing planning fees to put planning services on a firmer footing and to reflect the real costs of the services they provide.

Subject to the outcome of our consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, the government will provide funding to enable eligible local authorities to progress their plans to examination quickly. Further details on the funding will be provided in due course.

More generally, the government is committed to supporting local planning authorities. At the Budget, the Chancellor announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities. This includes funding for the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners, along with funding to Public Practice for the recruitment of planners, architects, and urban designers. Together, this framework provides a clear basis for the delivery of more high-quality, well-designed homes.

We are also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.