Minister Response to Motion 920 letter

Dear Councillor Gray,

Thank you for your letter of 18 July to Michael Gove MP about revising the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to require carbon assessments for mineral extraction applications. I am responding as the Minister responsible for this policy area.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy consultation was published on 22 December 2022 and ran until 2 March 2023. The consultation sought views on our proposed approach to updating the National Planning Policy Framework. We also sought views on our proposed approach to preparing National Development Management Policies, how we might develop policy to support levelling up, and how national planning policy is currently accessed by users.

In relation to the issues raised in your letter, we specifically sought views on the approach to carbon assessments and the role planning can play in supporting climate adaptation. We are interested in whether effective and proportionate ways of deploying a broad carbon assessment exist, including what they should measure, what evidence could underpin them such as Local Area Energy Plans, and how they may be used in a plan-making context or as a tool for assessing individual developments.

We received almost 26,000 responses and welcome the level of engagement we had from stakeholders. It is important that we give these responses proper consideration and expect to publish a response in the Autumn.

A thorough review of the NPPF will be published in due course, and its content will depend on the implementation of the government’s proposals for wider changes to the planning system, including the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. Any changes to the NPPF will be subject to a full public consultation which will provide an opportunity to submit comments on the proposals.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to the Department with your concerns.

Yours sincerely,
RACHEL MACLEAN MP
Minister of State for Housing and Planning