§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to review the regional planning guidance for the west midlands, to reduce the level of new house building required in Worcestershire and correspondingly increase it in Birmingham. [38146]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordWe shall keep our recently issued regional planning guidance for the west midlands under review. In particular, I have asked the local authorities to reconsider the housing figures in the light of the latest national household projections. They will advise me on this next year and we will then consider whether to revise our guidance. However, I cannot promise the hon. Member that the outcome will be a lower figure for Worcestershire and a higher figure for Birmingham.