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

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that sanctions are taken against local planning authorities who either refuse applications for non-planning reasons or who do not apply a presumption in favour of sustainable development in the pre-application process.

The planning performance regime monitors local planning authorities on the speed and quality of their decisions. Quality is assessed by the proportion of decisions overturned at appeal, which can include refusals for non-planning reasons or failure to apply the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

If more than 10% of decisions are overturned, the Secretary of State may designate the authority for poor performance. Designation requires the authority to prepare an improvement plan, and applicants may choose to submit relevant applications directly to the Planning Inspectorate for determination.