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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, (a) when and (b) how her Department became aware of the new planning application for the proposed new Chinese Embassy near the Tower of London.

Decisions on whether to call in a planning application routinely arise following a representation or notification from a third party. In this instance, the Department were notified of the new planning application by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials.