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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether water companies will be made statutory consultees for planning applications.

Water companies are consulted as part of the preparation of local development plans. Strategic water issues, such as water capacity, drainage and wastewater management, are best addressed through the plan-making process, where it is easier to identify and mitigate capacity issues or damaged infrastructure early, and which steers planning application decisions. We are maintaining the current moratorium on the creation of new statutory consultees on planning applications, subject to periodic review.

All stakeholders can of course comment on any planning application about which they have concerns.