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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is her policy that the Horsham District Council local plan should be allowed to progress without alteration in the context of her proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.

I regret that due to the Deputy Prime Minister’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, I am unable to comment on the details of a specific local plan.

More generally, as part of our current consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, we have proposed transitional arrangements to maintain the progress of plans at more advanced stages of preparation. These will apply differently depending on what stage of preparation the plan has reached and the extent to which it is meeting the Government’s housing growth aspirations.

We would encourage any views on the proposed transitional arrangements, or any alternatives that we should consider, to be submitted in response to the consultation.