To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 554W, on planning, what the timetable is for the publication of the counter-terrorism supplement; and what its status will be in planning law. (182623)

The Government intend to publish during the summer of 2008 the counter-terrorism supplement which will accompany planning policy guidance Safer Places. In drafting this supplement the Home Office will be consulting with key stakeholders both within Government, with industry and with professional bodies involved in planning and design.

Government statements of planning policy must be taken into account, where relevant, in decisions on planning applications and in the preparation of planning policies. ‘Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development’ (PPS1) makes clear that the creation of safe and accessible environments where crime and disorder or fear of crime does not undermine quality of life or community cohesion is a key planning objectives which planning authorities should take into account. PPS1 also says that planning authorities should have regard to good practice set out in ‘Safer Places—the Planning System and Crime Prevention’. The counter terrorism supplement which will accompany Safer Places will, therefore, equally be capable of being a material consideration in the determination of planning applications and in the preparation of planning policies.