Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 61248 on Green Belt: Maps, whether local authorities will be required to publish a map of grey belt areas within their areas during the local plan process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for individual local planning authorities to undertake the necessary assessments to identify if land is grey belt, either through plan making or through considering specific applications that come forward.
Similarly, it is for authorities to determine whether and how to evidence, justify, amend, and set out Green Belt boundaries through the preparation or updating of statutory plans.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help strengthen enforcement powers for councils to prevent unauthorised development on Green Belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing immediate stop notices with penalties for breaches to help reduce cases of members of the travelling community developing on Green Belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to prevent members of the travelling community from developing property on Green Belt land; and if she will take steps to strengthen the planning process in this area.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65505 on Housing: Construction, what her planned timetable is for improving the system of developer contributions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has already taken important steps to strengthen the system of developer contributions. This includes the introduction of new ‘Golden Rules’ for major development involving the provision of housing on land within or released from the Green Belt, and other changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in December 2024 which will support the increased provision of affordable housing and infrastructure.
The government is taking further action by giving all mayors of strategic authorities the power to raise a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
We have also committed to updating the planning practice guidance on viability to ensure that the system works to optimise developer contributions, allowing negotiation only where genuinely necessary.
Details of any further changes to strengthen the system of developer contributions will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reconsidering special circumstances permitting green belt development at times when battery energy storage site targets have been exceeded.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where the type of development in question is proposed in the Green Belt it is for decision makers, based on the circumstances of the individual case, to determine whether development inappropriate in Green Belt would be justified by very special circumstances.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changing the Planning Practice Guidance assessment criteria of identifying grey belt land from being judged as strongly contributing to any one of purposes a, b, or d to moderately contributing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not changed the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the NPPF, and we do not propose to alter its general extent.
The contribution Green Belt land makes to the five purposes is only one consideration in local planning authority decisions relating to the release of Green Belt land.
In its response to the 30 July 2024 to 24 September 2024 consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation, and having considered the feedback received, the government clarified that grey belt land is Green Belt land which does not strongly contribute to Green Belt Purposes (a), (b), and (d).
As set out in Planning Practice Guidance, where grey belt is identified, it does not automatically follow that it should be allocated for development, or released from the Green Belt, or that development proposals will be approved in all circumstances.
I otherwise again refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 39471 on 26 March 2025 and UIN 64265 on 9 July 2025.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58609 on Green Belt: Planning, and the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39471 on Green Belt, for what reason her Department has decided to exclude Green Belt purposes (c) and (e) when assessing grey belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not changed the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the NPPF, and we do not propose to alter its general extent.
The contribution Green Belt land makes to the five purposes is only one consideration in local planning authority decisions relating to the release of Green Belt land.
In its response to the 30 July 2024 to 24 September 2024 consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation, and having considered the feedback received, the government clarified that grey belt land is Green Belt land which does not strongly contribute to Green Belt Purposes (a), (b), and (d).
As set out in Planning Practice Guidance, where grey belt is identified, it does not automatically follow that it should be allocated for development, or released from the Green Belt, or that development proposals will be approved in all circumstances.
I otherwise again refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 39471 on 26 March 2025 and UIN 64265 on 9 July 2025.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58609 and the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39471, for what reason only Green Belt purposes (a), (b) and (d) were included in assessing grey belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not changed the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the NPPF, and we do not propose to alter its general extent.
The contribution Green Belt land makes to the five purposes is only one consideration in local planning authority decisions relating to the release of Green Belt land.
In its response to the 30 July 2024 to 24 September 2024 consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation, and having considered the feedback received, the government clarified that grey belt land is Green Belt land which does not strongly contribute to Green Belt Purposes (a), (b), and (d).
As set out in Planning Practice Guidance, where grey belt is identified, it does not automatically follow that it should be allocated for development, or released from the Green Belt, or that development proposals will be approved in all circumstances.
I otherwise again refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 39471 on 26 March 2025 and UIN 64265 on 9 July 2025.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the consistency of Local Planning Authorities in identifying grey belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not changed the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the NPPF, and we do not propose to alter its general extent.
The contribution Green Belt land makes to the five purposes is only one consideration in local planning authority decisions relating to the release of Green Belt land.
In its response to the 30 July 2024 to 24 September 2024 consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation, and having considered the feedback received, the government clarified that grey belt land is Green Belt land which does not strongly contribute to Green Belt Purposes (a), (b), and (d).
As set out in Planning Practice Guidance, where grey belt is identified, it does not automatically follow that it should be allocated for development, or released from the Green Belt, or that development proposals will be approved in all circumstances.
I otherwise again refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 39471 on 26 March 2025 and UIN 64265 on 9 July 2025.