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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that neighbourhood plans are given due weight in planning decisions.

Neighbourhood Plans which have passed referenda have statutory weight and form part of the development plan.

The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider doing so is in their best interests.

Neighbourhood planning groups have received over £71 million since 2013. This support has created a network of planners and groups who have the skills and expertise to prepare neighbourhood plans and to help other communities to do so.

Local planning authorities have an existing duty under Paragraph 3 of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to provide advice and assistance to neighbourhood planning groups. They can also, at their discretion taking into account their constituents’ needs and priorities, provide funding in support of neighbourhood plan preparation.

As of the end of September 2025, the department was aware of c.1850 made neighbourhood plans in England. The Department is aware of 23 neighbourhood plans which have been adopted in Lancashire since 2015, of which 2 were in the Fylde constituency.