Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report entitled Green Belt Under Development by Glenigan Constructing Insight, dated August 2014, what assessment he has made of the causes of the changes in the number of planning approvals on the green belt over the last five years.

Most planning approvals in Green Belt are non-residential, many in support of agriculture. National planning policy makes clear that most forms of development in Green Belt are inappropriate. Local planning authorities, in consultation with local communities, are in charge of protecting their Green Belt in line with policy in the National Planning Policy Framework. If inappropriate development is proposed, the local planning authority has to determine whether the harm to the Green Belt, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, and whether there are very special circumstances to justify planning permission.