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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to improve the timely delivery of a local plan in areas where a local authority has not produced such a plan.

The Government strongly encourages all areas to get up-to-date Local Plans in place. Although we have supported all authorities in plan-making, and recently seen significant positive plan-making progress, there is more that we can do to ensure comprehensive Local Plan coverage.

The Government’s Productivity Plan, published on 10 July, outlined the Government’s commitment to ensuring that Plans are put in place and to bringing forward measures to improve the plan-making process. We intend to set out shortly in a statement how we will take these measures forward, engaging closely with the sector in doing so to ensure that any reforms build upon recent positive progress on plan-making.

I would openly encourage all areas to put renewed effort into plan-making as Local Plans are the best way of working with the community to provide certainty as to what development is appropriate and where.