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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many times he has given planning permission against a planning inspector’s recommendation; and if he will place a list of those occasions in the Library.

The Secretary of State has issued 27 decisions on called in planning applications and recovered appeals.

Disagreeing with an Inspector’s recommendation to grant planning permission is not unusual. John Prescott went against the Inspector’s recommendation to grant planning permission for a 50 storey tower at St George’s Cross, Vauxhall, London in 2005. Hazel Blears went against the Planning Inspector’s recommendation on the Doon St Tower, Lambeth, London in 2008 and granted planning permission for a scheme, including a 42 storey tower.