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 potential merits including of a water neutral planning policy requirement within the OxCam development.

On 18 February the Government published 'Planning for sustainable growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc' which sets out the principles for how we will develop a Spatial Framework for the Arc. The Spatial Framework will support a long-term, coordinated approach to planning, to ensure economic, social and environmental (both built and natural) opportunities are realised, and improve the Arc as a place to live and work.

The Policy Paper outlines that we will set high standards for new development and support an integrated approach to water management. This integrated approach will take into account sustainable water abstraction, drought and flood resilience, water quality and the risk of flooding, and will consider how and where new water related infrastructure should be developed. As part of the Policy Paper, we have also committed to identifying environmental Opportunity Areas, which will include water services infrastructure, and incorporate nature-based solutions.

The Spatial Framework will be supported by a robust and comprehensive evidence base, developed in conjunction with key stakeholders. The evidence base will include an extensive range of environmental technical assessments, to inform policy development. The evidence base will be underpinned by a fully integrated Sustainability Appraisal (SA), to ensure we understand the likely environmental, social and economic implications of the implementation of proposed policies. This process will present the opportunity for further refinement of the proposed polices, ensuring sustainability aspirations are realised as far as is practicable, before we finalise, adopt and implement them. The SA will include a full assessment of the implications of policies on the water environment.

The content and nature of the environmental policies within the Spatial Framework will emerge once the evidence base has been consolidated, and SA assessments have been undertaken.