It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the right hon. and learned Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Sir Jeremy Wright) on securing this debate. He is an assiduous and highly effective parliamentarian, whom I have the utmost respect for, and he opened the debate with a characteristically incisive and challenging contribution. I thank him for the opportunity he has given the Chamber to debate this issue, and I will seek in the course of my remarks to respond to each of his specific points. I also thank the hon. Members who have spoken in the debate. I appreciate fully that this topic provokes strong views, to put it mildly, but in the time I have available, I hope to provide some further clarity on the Government's green belt policy, specifically the nuances of national policy relating to grey belt. Hon. Members and the right hon. and learned Member for Kenilworth and Southam will appreciate that, due to the quasi-judicial nature of the planning process, I will be unable to comment in detail on individual local plans, planning applications or how individual local planning authorities may interpret national planning policy. The definition of grey belt is set out in the glossary of the "National Planning Policy Framework". It is defined, for the purposes of plan making and decision making, as land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that, in either case, does not contribute to any of the purposes (a), (b), or (d) as set out in NPPF policy GB2. As set out in the revised NPPF in December 2024, the Government awarded over £9.3 million to 133 local planning authorities to support them with the costs of undertaking green belt reviews. The Government aims to ensure that designation and release take place in a strategic manner over time through local plans with a 10-year horizon, and through spatial development strategies with a 20-year horizon. Any alterations to green belt boundaries must promote sustainable patterns of development and must not fundamentally undermine the five green belt purposes of the remaining green belt. Local planning authorities must assess whether grey-belt land should be allocated for development, and development proposals on grey-belt land must respond to demonstrable unmet need. Decisions should also be informed by an overall application of the relevant policies in the NPPF, including policies in the natural environment chapter, which safeguard areas of importance for the landscape, geodiversity, or biodiversity value. To assist local planning authorities and other decision makers in both plan making and decision making, the Department published updated planning practice guidance on 27 February last year, which sets out a range of considerations to help determine whether land is grey belt and how to consider proposals on potential grey-belt land. The guidance does not provide an exhaustive or overly prescriptive list, as local context and development-specific considerations will vary markedly across the country. In instances where a given application goes to appeal, the relevant inspector will consider relevant legislation and national planning policy, including the NPPF and PPG, and any relevant local development plan policies and material considerations. The targets introduced by the Government are ambitious, but the formula directs housing growth to larger urban areas, not uniformly dropping housing targets across metro areas. The guidance is clear that land that is likely not to make a strong contribution to the relevant green belt purposes is likely to contain existing development or other urbanising influences, and it is for individual local planning authorities to make green belt assessments and to make judgments about sites that might constitute grey-belt land. If some of those sites are required to meet demonstrable unmet need, it is for the authority to select the most appropriate and sustainable sites from that list. The Government is encouraging local areas to get local plans in place to meet demonstrable unmet need and to ensure robust safeguards against grey-belt applications that come through the decision-making route. This approach allows for strategic plan for green-belt land designation and release over a 20-year horizon, ensuring sustainable patterns of development.