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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed planning changes on the capacity of local planning authorities; and whether she will provide additional funding to those authorities.

The Department has a dedicated Planning Capability and Capacity programme to support planning reform.

We are currently reviewing how best to deploy additional support made available as a result of our plans to increase the rate of the stamp duty surcharge paid by non-UK residents.

In the recently launched consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system, the Government set out proposed changes to planning application fees and also sought views on the localisation of such fees.

The Government is committed to achieving full local plan coverage as part of wider planning reforms. Funding will be made available to support those authorities who will be required to undertake additional work to take account of the updated NPPF once this is published in the Autumn.