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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the (a) use of Special Development Orders to obtain planning approval, (b) planning application call-in and (c) planning appeal recovery for asylum seeker accommodation.

The Secretary of State’s powers relating to Special Development Orders are set out in section 60 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Policies on calling in planning applications and recovering appeals are set out in the Written Ministerial Statements of 26 October 2012 and 30 June 2008 respectively.