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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring the disclosure of the true beneficiary of a planning application to enhance public scrutiny.

Planning permissions relate to plots of land and so the identity of the applicant and the ownership of land are not normally material considerations in planning decisions. Disclosure of the true beneficiary of a planning permission would therefore not affect the outcome of a planning decision.