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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the town and country planning framework to achieve more efficient decision making.

In July last year we published a revised National Planning Policy Framework to provide a clear basis for locally-produced plans and planning decisions. We are continuing to explore improvements to procedures, building on recent reforms such as streamlining the use of pre-commencement planning conditions. We recently consulted on further permitted development rights and changes to use class orders to support the high street and encourage more development, and published the outcome of Bridget Rosewell’s independent review into speeding up planning appeal inquiries.