Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices on applications for large scale solar farms of the Written Ministerial Statement entitled Solar and protecting our Food Security and Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Land, dated 15 May 2024, UIN HCWS466.

The Written Ministerial Statement made in May by the previous government did not change the policy on this matter that is set out in the relevant parts of the National Policy Statement (NPS) for Renewable Energy and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It quoted extracts from that NPS and the NPPF. Decisions on solar that is Nationally Significant Infrastructure will be guided by the NPS in full, noting there are transitional provisions in place as the NPS was only designated this January. The NPPF will continue to be a material consideration for Local Authority planning decisions on solar.