Planning Guidance (Hansard, 19 January 2004)

§ John Mann
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what account planning authorities in England are required to take of(a) written departmental guidelines circulated to them and (b) ministerial speeches in Parliament. [147970]

§ Yvette Cooper
Written Departmental Guidance and Ministerial speeches in Parliament are capable of being material considerations which local planning authorities must take into account when exercising their planning powers (for both forward planning and development control purposes). Central Government policy may be communicated to local planning authorities in various ways (for example by written guidance or oral statements) and may be taken into account by a local planning authority, irrespective of the way in which it is communicated. The weight to be attached to it may vary, however, depending on how formally it is expressed.

§ Mrs. May
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has provided to local authorities on the incorporation of estimates for climate change into the definition of floodplain for planning purposes. [148281]

§ Yvette Cooper
The flood zones in the risk-based sequential test in Planning Policy Guidance note (PPG) 25 "Development and flood risk", which was published in July 2001, are based on Environment Agency mapping of the risks at the time of map preparation. This does not include any allowance for climate change. However, local planning authorities and developers are advised to take account of climate change in assessing the risks from flooding. PPG 25 recommends a minimum standard of flood defence that takes account of the allowances for climate change contained in the "Project appraisal guidance for flood and coastal defence", published by the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1999.
Climate change allowances have been re-examined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) following publication of new climate change scenarios in 2002. Further guidance was published by DEFRA in 2003, which does not differ in its essentials from that already cited in PPG 25.