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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that new housing developments have adequate supporting infrastructure, particularly healthcare services.

As set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.

The changes we proposed as part of our recent consultation on the Framework are intended to support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure, ranging from hospitals to criminal justice facilities. The consultation closed on 24 September, and we are considering all representations made, with a view to publishing a final version of the Framework before the end of the year.

Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of planmaking and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.