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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their White Paper, Planning for the Future: planning changes in England in 2020 and future reforms, published on 6 August 2020, what assessment they have made of the impact of those changes on the viability of the neighbourhood plans process.

The white paper “Planning for the Future” sets out a package of proposals to secure better outcomes in terms of land for homes, beauty, and environmental quality, as well as processes which give greater certainty and speed for communities, councils and developers. The Government remains committed to neighbourhood planning, and the white paper sets out our intention to retain neighbourhood plans as part of the planning system. The consultation on these proposals is now closed and we will be using the feedback we have received to develop future neighbourhood planning policy.