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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has set a deadline for councils to publish their (a) local growth plans and (b) local housing development plans.

1. The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to the 11 Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority in September to invite them to begin the process of developing their Local Growth Plans. These will be locally owned, long-term strategic plans that set out how the authority will use its devolved powers and funding to support the national growth mission. Local Growth Plans will also help inform the development of the UK Industrial Strategy and will support its delivery. They will be published after the multi-year spending review.

2. All local development plans should be submitted for examination by December 2026 with the exception of plans that reach pre-submission consultation stage (Regulation 19) on or before 12 March 2025. These plans will proceed on the basis of the transitional arrangements set out in the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024.