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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60599 on Neighbourhood Plans, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to end the commissioning of new neighbourhood planning support services on the ability of (a) town and (b) parish councils to develop neighbourhood plans.

As part of the Spending Review we’ve looked at all the services and programmes the government supports to identify those that should now be in a position to support themselves without ongoing funding. After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we believe that support for neighbourhood planning groups should be possible without further government funding. Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish. With the end to the national structure for support, planning consultants should be able to innovate and offer groups lower cost support more targeted at their particular ambitions and needs.