Written question asked by Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 15 May 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 19 May 2009. It was answered by Iain Wright (Labour) on Thursday, 21 May 2009 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Local Development Frameworks

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of local planning authorities in England have in place an up-to-date local development framework.

Answer: The Local Development Framework is a suite of development plan documents (DPDs) which should have regard to a 15-year time horizon and can evolve over time and respond to changing circumstances. This means that there is no definition of what constitutes up-to-date.However, since the introduction of local development frameworks in 2004, the Planning Inspectorate who independently examine all DPDs have found 112 DPDs sound, including 43 core strategies. Between 2000 and 2007, 109 local authorities adopted old-style plans. All local planning authorities, including those with sound core strategies, can continue to use saved policies from old-style plans as part of their statutory development plan until such time as they are superseded by one of the suite of documents within the Local Development Framework.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 492 c1547W; 276571
Session: 2008-09
Related items: Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Local development frameworks
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk