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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's Planning for the Future consultation and forthcoming proposals for reform to planning regulation, what assessment he has made of the need to preserve existing (a) requirements for archaeological investigation and (b) safeguards for heritage and the historic environment as part of the planning process.

The Government is committed to the protection of the historic environment and we have put in place a strong legislative and policy framework to achieve this. In bringing forward any reforms to the planning system, we will ensure that heritage considerations, including the need for archaeological surveys, are taken into account.