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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the conclusion of the report by the Local Plans Expert Group, published in March 2016, paragraph s15, that local plans in the South East may not enable the full scale of housing need to be met.

The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to identify and plan for the housing needs in their area. Planning guidance is clear that Green Belt and other constraints may restrict the ability of an individual authority to meet its need.

The Framework is clear that the supply of new homes may be delivered by larger scale development, such as new settlements or urban extensions, and the Government is supporting new locally led garden towns and villages in places where communities want them.

The Local Plans Expert Group published their report on 16 March 2016, and this was open for representations until 27 April. The report and representations are receiving careful consideration and a further statement will be made in due course.