My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Sadiq Khan) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Today my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is publishing the East Midlands Regional Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy) (RSS), which covers the period 2006-26. Also published are the final sustainability appraisal and habitats regulations assessment plus other supporting documents. This replaces RSS8, issued in March 2005, with the exception of part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional strategy, which remains extant.

The regional spatial strategy forms part of the statutory development plan for every local authority in the east Midlands and sets the framework for the production of local development frameworks and local transport plans. It provides the spatial plan for the development of the region, and the policy framework for employment, housing, transport and the environment.

The existing strategy, RSS8, which is replaced today, was published in March 2005. The draft revision of the RSS was submitted to the Government in September 2006 by the East Midlands Regional Assembly. It was tested by an examination in public lasting eight weeks during summer 2007, and the panel report was published in November 2007. Proposed changes were published on 22 July 2008 followed by a 12-week public consultation ending on 17 October. We received 2,549 comments from 735 respondents.

We have carefully examined all the responses. The result is that we have rebased the housing figures from 2006 rather than 2001 to bring the plan more up to date. We have defined total housing provision for all authorities, apart from Northamptonshire, where figures were not subject to review, setting out the total that local authorities need to plan for up to 2026. Responding to representations, we have removed the five-year phasing of the housing provision which was introduced in the proposed changes and we have responded to the concerns of local authorities around Nottingham by reducing the level of increase for the city and adjusting the balance of numbers required between urban and rural areas for the suburban authorities, which reflect their concerns about land availability. Total provision in the Lincolnshire coastal districts of East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland remains limited and will be reviewed after a coastal strategy has been completed. A small adjustment to remove some double counting in the Leicestershire area has also been made.

The result is a total provision of 430,300 dwellings over the plan period, compared to 408,360 at the draft stage and 434,094 at proposed changes.

We have made some minor amendments to the text to clarify the position on climate change measures for local authorities which do not have an up-to-date development plan document. We believe this clarification will reduce the risk of confusion.

We have also made some changes to the pitch requirement figures for Gypsies, Travellers and showpeople, which clarify the timescales and remove some errors in the use of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments. Other minor changes and updating have also been done.

Copies of relevant documents have been placed in the Library of the House and will be provided to the region’s MPs and MEPs, local authorities, the East Midlands Regional Assembly and the East Midlands Development Agency. The regional plan and all related documents are also available to download from the website of the Government Office for the East Midlands at www.gos.gov.uk/goem/planning/regional-planning/.