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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what account he has taken of the Government's policy to end unabated coal in framing National Planning Policy Framework guidelines on the approval of new coal extraction projects.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change will be launching a consultation on how to fulfil the Government's commitment to phase out existing unabated coal as an energy source for power stations shortly. The National Planning Policy Framework and planning practice guidance, sets the planning framework for mineral planning authorities to assess applications for the extraction of coal, they do not address the specific uses of coal.