To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to improve parliamentary scrutiny of national planning policy statements following paragraph 1.44 of the planning white paper, Cm 7120. (139956)

Paragraphs 3.27 and 3.28 of the White Paper “Planning for a Sustainable Future” (Cm 7120), explain that as Ministers would no longer be taking decisions on individual applications, it believes that draft national policy statements should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, and that further work is needed to identify the most appropriate mechanism for ensuring parliamentary scrutiny. The White Paper consults on what mechanisms might ensure appropriate parliamentary scrutiny.