Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support public participation in the planning process.

We have given many communities direct power to shape the development of their areas through neighbourhood planning, and we have invested £31million supporting local communities to get over 1000 neighbourhood plans in place. The National Model Design Code, published in July, shows how design codes based on genuine community involvement can let local people have a real say in the design of new homes and neighbourhoods.

Looking beyond this, we are considering the next steps for planning reform, and will announce our next steps on this in due course.