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 implications of the Committee on Climate Change's report on net zero carbon emissions for (a) current and future planning decisions on coal mines for which approval has recently been granted, recommended or sought, and (b) planning guidelines for new coal mining applications and possible revision of the National Planning Policy Framework.

The Government is committed to clean growth and is taking action to reduce our reliance on coal. We have set out our aim to end electricity generation from unabated coal by 2025 and we are also taking action to reduce coal use in industry and heating.

Our world leading plans to end electricity generation from unabated coal by 2025 are expected to further this trend, and I am delighted that 30 countries, 22 states and cities, and 28 businesses have signed up to our Powering Past Coal Alliance.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning permission should not be granted for the extraction of coal unless the proposal is environmentally acceptable or the national, local or community benefits outweigh its likely impacts. The Framework is a material consideration in the determination of all applications for coal extraction in England. Given my quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of current or future planning applications for coal extraction.