Councils reject Michael Gove's 'housing plan failure' comments

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove made a speech in London on how he plans to speed up the planning system

East Midlands councils have rejected criticism from the housing secretary Michael Gove for their "failure" to put a housing plan in place.

Mr Gove named seven councils as underperformers for not having a local plan in place since 2004, including Amber Valley Borough Council and Ashfield District Council.

But Amber Valley said councillors approved its local plan on 13 December.

And Ashfield District Council said its framework was at an advanced stage.

In a speech in London, Mr Gove said the government would publish league tables, which showed the performance of council planning authorities in approving developments.

He then named seven councils as "underperformers" for not having in place a local plan, which is a policy document that sets the blueprint for all future developments in an area.

As well as Ashfield and Amber Valley, the councils in Uttlesford, Basildon and Castle Point in Essex, St Albans in Hertfordshire and Medway, Kent were named as underperformers.

Ashfield District Council said the government had been "changing their minds and sending mixed messages" on housing

Mr Gove said if the seven authorities failed, he would "consider further intervention to ensure that a plan is in place".

"I'm prepared to act wherever there is failure," he added.

But a spokesman for Ashfield District Council said the framework was "well advanced" and it was currently out to public consultation on its final stage.

They added the government had been "changing their minds and sending mixed messages" over the last four years.

"We have the crazy situation where the Conservatives in government demand houses are built on green belt only for their own MPs to oppose them," they said.

A spokesman for Amber Valley Borough Council said they believed they had "already met the government's requirement" on its local plan after councillors approved the framework on 13 December.