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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on whether community engagement should be carried out through distinct channels from business engagement as part of local development planning.

Planning Practice Guidance on plan-making, which can be found on gov.uk here, highlights the importance of local communities and interested parties being able to track the progress of local development plans through Local Development Schemes. These must be made available publicly by local planning authorities and kept up to date.

Together with Statements of Community Involvement, they outline how the local planning authority will engage and undertake public consultation in the preparation of the emerging local development plan, including with communities and other stakeholders.