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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the preservation of the Green Belt of increased housing targets in the Government's proposed changes to planning.

The Government will continue to protect the Green Belt in line with our manifesto commitment. The new method for calculating local housing need introduced last year and reforms to the planning system through the Planning Bill will not change national planning policy on the protection of Green Belt. Local communities will still use local plan policies to establish and protect their Green Belts, and the National Planning Policy Framework will remain a material consideration. The Government has also made clear that local authorities should consider local constraints, such as Green Belt, in the process of planning for new homes.