Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Cabinet Secretary is undertaking an inquiry into the circumstances by which the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government made his decision on the Westferry Printworks development, PA/18/01877/A1 on 14 January 2020.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has yesterday published a comprehensive statement to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee on the manner in which the Westferry planning appeal was determined, and released a comprehensive collection of associated documents into the public domain; and I also refer the Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s speech in the Opposition Day Debate.

The Cabinet Secretary has not undertaken an investigation; he has written to the Hon. Member in relation to this matter in reply to his letter. Given the Hon. Member publicly released his original letter, I am placing a copy of this reply in the Libraries of the House.