Written questions by Collins.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on the ability of Local Authorities to effectively halt unauthorised planning developments in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to update guidance to enable local planning authorities to take account of cumulative breaches of planning control across subdivided land where individual plots are under separate ownership.

My Department has no current plans to update guidance in respect of this matter.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the subdivision and sale of agricultural land into multiple small plots on the effectiveness of planning enforcement by local planning authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given Question UIN 119661 on 18 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to collect data on the number of planning applications or appeals in which Grey Belt policy is cited.

My Department is currently exploring with local planning authorities ways in which data relating to grey belt land might usefully be collected. However, no decisions have yet been made.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on escalating enforcement action, including the use of injunctions under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, in cases involving repeated or sequential breaches of planning control.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given Question UIN 119662 on 18 March 2026

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on escalating enforcement action, including the use of injunctions under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, in cases involving repeated or sequential breaches of planning control.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 119662 on 18 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, when he will the response to the July 2025 consultation on the Private Parking Code of Practice; and what the timetable is for implementation of the statutory Code under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.

All submissions to the 2025 Private Parking Code of Practice consultation are currently being analysed and the government will set out further details on the consultation response and the final Code as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department provides to local planning authorities on wastewater treatment capacity when determining applications for major housing developments.

Planning Practice Guidance on water supply, wastewater, and water quality sets out how the planning process should take account of water quality and the delivery of adequate water and wastewater infrastructure. That guidance can be found on gov.uk here.Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to wastewater treatment capacity.The proposed policies will support the development and operation of energy and water infrastructure that meets the needs of existing and future development. They emphasise the need for early engagement between relevant plan-making authorities, utility providers, regulators, and network operators. This will ensure that development plans align with the capacity and future requirements of water infrastructure, and support the delivery of water supply, drainage, and wastewater infrastructure.We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 86955 on 11 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with private parking operators on their duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled motorists; and what enforcement mechanisms are available where operators fail to meet those obligations.

The Government is aware that disabled motorists can face challenges when parking and my officials ensure these issues are actively discussed through ongoing engagement with the parking sector, the Department for Transport and other relevant stakeholders. Most recently, officials met with Disabled Motoring UK specifically to understand how disabled motorists can be protected and supported.Private parking operators are required to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, the form those adjustments take are up to individual operators. We will continue to proactively consider how the Code of Practice will affect disabled people and take steps to remove barriers.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect settlement hierarchy and the character of rural villages in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. .

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 103589 on 14 January 2026 and UIN 104394 on 15 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the subdivision and sale of agricultural land into multiple small plots on local planning enforcement workloads.

My Department has made no such assessment.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on the use of injunctions under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in cases involving repeated or escalating breaches of planning control.

Relevant guidance on enforcement, including planning injunctions, can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the grey belt policy on speculative development proposals on village edges in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, while local plans are under examination.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111723 on 24 February 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of Grey Belt policy on speculative development proposals on village edges in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 98288 on 5 January 2026, UIN 105177 on 20 January 2026, and UIN 106373 on 26 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the National Planning Policy Framework's Grey Belt Policy on the development of village infrastructure including (a) schools, (b) GP services, (c) transport and (d) wastewater; and what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of securing infrastructure before developments in village areas begin.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Question UIN 90834 on the 21 November 2025, Question UIN 67812 on the 21 July 2025, and Question UIN 26106 on the 5 February 2025. The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The proposed Green Belt policy is set out in Chapter 13 of the consultation which can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the implementation of (a) the national standards for sustainable drainage systems and (b) updated planning policy, including what data it will collect on (i) compliance and (ii) adoption and maintenance arrangements.

The government is committed to securing the delivery of high-quality sustainable drainage systems to help manage flood risk and adapt to the effects of climate change. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts. National Planning Guidance indicates that local planning authorities should be satisfied that all Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) have clear maintenance and adoption arrangements in place for the lifetime of a development. We are currently consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, more ‘rules-based’ policies for decision-making. The consultation includes a proposed new requirement for SuDS to be designed in accordance with the National Standards for SuDS published last year. It will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. Responsibility for the implementation of national planning policy lies with local planning authorities, as does the monitoring of compliance with planning permissions. We are also exploring how to improve the adoption of public amenities, including SuDS, on freehold estates. For further details, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has recently assessed the impact of Grey Belt policy criteria that focus on towns and large built-up areas on village-edge Green Belt land, and his Department's assessment of the potential impact of this policy on rural settlements in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, such as Redbourn.

In assessing whether Green Belt land is grey belt, local planning authorities should consider the contribution the land in question makes to the Green Belt purposes of restricting the sprawl of large built up areas, preventing the merging of neighbouring towns, and safeguarding the setting and special character of historic towns.Relevant Green Belt guidance makes clear that when assessing contribution to these purposes, “large built-up areas” and “towns” do not include villages.Considering whether any particular settlement constitutes a village is a matter for the given local planning authority to judge, which may be informed by the adopted local settlement hierarchy.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring water and sewerage companies to provide capacity assessments for water supply and wastewater infrastructure before large developments are approved in areas where existing networks and receiving water bodies are under pressure.

The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes policies that will support the development and operation of energy and water infrastructure that meets the needs of existing and future development. The policies in question emphasise the need for early engagement between relevant plan-making authorities, utility providers, regulators, and network operators. This will ensure that development plans align with the capacity and future requirements of water infrastructure, and support the delivery of water supply, drainage, and wastewater infrastructure. The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture has established a Water Delivery Taskforce to hold water companies to account on the deliveryof their Price Review (PR24) plans, including in relation to their planned investments to provide water and wastewater capacity.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce national response standards for (a) service levels and (b) response times for all fire and rescue services.

The Government has accepted, in principle, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national college of fire and rescue. The Inquiry report suggested a range of potential functions for a college to fulfil, including the development and assurance of national standards relating to various aspects of the work of fire and rescue services. Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the Fire Standards Board (FSB), which currently develops and maintains a suite of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The 19 standards currently published by the FSB cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to (a) amend planning policy and (b) issue guidance on how local planning authorities should frame enforceable planning conditions where delivery of critical drainage works depends on access to third-party land.

My Department’s Planning Practice Guidance already provides guidance on the use of negatively-worded planning conditions (often termed Grampian conditions) to deal with the delivery of infrastructure required for a development (such as drainage) which is on third party land.