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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to postpone the commencement of any new public inquiry into planning applications until constraints imposed in the UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted.

Following the Prime Minister's announcement on 23 March of further measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus the Planning Inspectorate issued immediate guidance stating that public inquiries into planning applications will not be taking place until the situation changes.

MHCLG and the Inspectorate are currently working together to explore whether it is feasible to utilise technological solutions to enable any inquiries to proceed whilst ensuring fairness for all parties, especially third parties, given that these are public events.