§ Mr. DobbinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to give local authorities more control over land development. [112614]
§ Ms Beverley HughesUnder our modernising planning initiative, local planning authorities, acting through regional planning bodies, are now responsible for preparing draft regional planning guidance. Local planning authorities have always been responsible for development plans and, in the first instance, for determining planning applications. We are committed to the plan-led system under which it is the local authority's development plan which provides the framework for decisions on the control of land development.