7. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's intention to revise planning policy in Wales? OQ56384

Yes. Thank you, Russell George. On 24 February, I published a new edition of 'Planning Policy Wales' and our first national development framework, 'Future Wales: the national plan 2040'. Taken together, they provide a comprehensive suite of up-to-date national land use planning policies for Wales.

Thank you for your answer, Minister. Last week, the Minister for the environment published the Welsh Government's 'Beyond Recycling' strategy to make the circular economy in Wales a reality. Now, within that strategy, the Welsh Government says it will place a moratorium on any future large-scale energy-from-waste developments. Now, I very much welcome this. This is something, as you know, I myself and Welsh Conservative colleagues have been calling for for a long time, in the Chamber and in writing. Can you confirm, Minister, that this moratorium will come into effect immediately and that planning policy will be revised accordingly? There are large-scale developments from waste incinerator developments in the pipeline, such as the one in my constituency in Buttington. An application for that was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 26 February. So, can you confirm, Minister, that this moratorium will mean that this planning application will not proceed any further?

Thank you for that, Russell. I'm aware that my colleague, the environment Minister, has announced a moratorium on future energy-from-waste plants, or incinerators as they're colloquially known. I'm afraid, because it's not in my portfolio, I'm not aware of whether it's immediate or not. If you want to write to me asking what the status of the planning application is in the face of that moratorium, I'll make sure that my officials treat that as a matter of urgency. I'm afraid I don't have that information to hand.

Finally, question 8, to be answered by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, and to be asked by Janet Finch-Saunders.