PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(6 July 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on strengthening planning policy to help ensure that new developments do not increase runoff and surface water flood risk for surrounding communities.

Asked by:
John Milne (Liberal Democrat)

The government recognises the importance of development being resilient to flooding from all sources, including from surface water.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts.

These are designed to control surface water runoff and provide benefits for water quantity, water quality, biodiversity, and amenity by lowering flow rates and increasing water storage capacity.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included policies incorporating a new requirement that Sustainable Drainage Systems should be designed in accordance with the National Standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems to provide a consistent basis for improving their design.

We are currently analysing the feedback received to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

Answered by:
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