Net Zero: Social Market Foundation Report

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report from the Social Market Foundation Zeroing in: Net Zero disruption and opportunity at a local level, published on 14 September.

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government welcome the report and its conclusions. The net-zero transition will bring many challenges at the local level, but it will also create vital opportunities to level up. The Government are already doing many of the things that the report recommends. The net-zero strategy sets out our approach to maximising the opportunities that exist and how local and devolved administrations can contribute and benefit from the transition.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD)]

The report highlights some of the challenges that will be faced by rural areas in the transition to net zero. Does the Minister accept that solutions tailored to urban areas may very well not be appropriate in the countryside? Can he consider the recommendation that there should be a bespoke net-zero approach to rural areas to ensure that they do not get left behind?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are absolutely committed to rural areas not being left behind and take the point that they are essentially very different from urban areas. However, we do not consider that we should have a separate rural strategy but consider it to be part of all our activities.

Housing: New Developments

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the drive for development does need to take into account the need for sustainable development. Planning will take on board a zonal approach, with some of the positives of the existing system, and will divide areas into growth areas, renewal areas and protected areas.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

I am sure that the Minister will agree that neighbourhood planning has been very successful in involving communities, delivering approximately 18,000 more houses than were contained in local plans. So can he confirm that neighbourhood planning will remain after the Government’s planning reforms are introduced and that they will remain a material consideration when decisions are made?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I do not want to presuppose what will be in our response to the planning White Paper, but I recognise the important contribution that neighbourhood plans provide to delivering homes.

Planning: Net Zero Emissions Targets

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Monday 19th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

We are very serious about the move to a net zero economy and using planning as a vehicle to do that. Further announcements will have to await the review of the consultation that is currently being processed.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market [V]]

My Lords, if the Government are as serious as the Minister suggests, would it not be a good idea to review all national policy statements including, for example, on aviation, to try to make sure that all these large infrastructure decisions are made with net zero in mind? That would also give business some certainty, rather than the current situation where major developments are called in and delayed.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, national planning policy statements are a matter for the relevant Secretary of State, but I would point out that Project Speed is at the moment reviewing national infrastructure planning reform and ensuring that we build projects faster, better and, of course, greener.

Housing: Leasehold

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, there is no doubt that you need to turn to lawyers to know how long it will take to turn these things round quickly. We need primary legislation. I have been told by Professor Hopkins, who was in charge of the Law Commission work, that the preparations to get primary legislation ready for consideration by noble Lords will take approximately one year, so we are probably talking about the third Session.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Young, said, commonhold is often a much better option than the current leasehold system. However, despite that, many mortgage lenders are reluctant to lend on a commonhold basis. What discussions have taken place with mortgage lenders to try to unblock this?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Commonhold exists today but the noble Baroness is absolutely right that this will require change, which is always difficult. Never underestimate the power of the status quo. Discussions have happened and will continue to take place with interested parties such as the lenders, which are so important to making this a success.

Non-Domestic Rating (Rates Retention, Levy and Safety Net and Levy Account: Basis of Distribution) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, we would all agree with the Minister when he described the SI as highly technical. It certainly is. It demonstrates just how convoluted local government finance in this country has become. It deeply troubles me from the point of view of transparency, because I would defy anyone to try to explain what is happening here. The context is that local government is facing a funding crisis of around £1.6 billion. The local government finance system was not fit for purpose before the pandemic and most certainly is not now. I agree with the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, about the need for a root and branch reform of local government finance.

I have one substantive point and two questions for the Minister. A rule of law accessibility issue arises in relation to this SI. The Government’s Explanatory Memorandum and the Minister mentioned that the procedure for free issue is in effect a replacement; this instrument corrects errors from earlier one. As a long-standing member of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, I applaud the Government’s use of the free issue procedure here. It is exactly what the JCSI said the Government should do.

The principle that free correction should be given was set out in the committee’s special report in 2017-19. However, that report also made the point that the Government need to consider whether the free issue procedure is necessary and serves quite the same purpose, now that so few people buy written copies. Most people go online. Here I declare an interest as a non-executive board member of the National Archives, which fulfils the role of Queen’s Printer and runs legislation.gov.uk.

In the report, the committee invited the Government to consider allowing readers of hard copies to register for email or text alerts when a statutory instrument is replaced or corrected down the line. Perhaps the Minister could go back and ask the people in government responsible for that whether they have given any more thought to this matter. The free issue procedure is one part of a whole edifice for managing SIs within a legislative and procedural framework that has been based largely on paper and not what would happen if it were starting again today.

My two questions are these. First, the Explanatory Memorandum talks about a local government working group that focuses on business rate retention and reform. Can the Minister say more about that group, who is on it and how it operates, because I have not heard of it? Secondly, are we coming close to a date for Second Reading on the Non-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No.2) Bill, which received its first reading in March but seems to have disappeared?

It is almost 30 years since I was first elected a councillor. In 1991, as I was trudging the streets of Needham Market, one Ian Botham was on his final tour of Australia and New Zealand. Many paths lead to this House. I look forward to hearing him and wish him well.

Almshouses

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that invitation. I am always looking to get out and about, particularly in these difficult times, so I would very much welcome doing that as soon as it can be organised. I point out that we need housing of all types and tenures. It is not just about volume; we need enough family-sized accommodation and the right accommodation for our elderly, and it is about getting that balance. It is not just a drive for numbers; housing of all types and tenures has to be the name of the game.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the regulations for VAT that govern charities which own buildings—and therefore have to maintain, repair and enhance them—are extremely complex to administer. Will the Minister consider talking to his Treasury colleagues to see how these may be simplified? It seems perverse to direct charitable giving to the Treasury.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, as a humble entrepreneur and businessman, I say that we all want to see things thrive, and being weighed down by bureaucracy is not a good thing, so I am happy to make those representations on the noble Baroness’s behalf to colleagues in HMT.

Housing: Rent, Evictions and Covid-19

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, our focus has obviously been on supporting renters during the pandemic. I will write to the noble Lord on that matter.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the cost of temporary accommodation for homeless people is already in excess of £1 billion. This can only rise as hardship increases. Have the Government made any assessment of whether it would not be better value, as well as more humane, to put the money into helping people to stay in their own homes using, for example, a scheme similar to that in Spain?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for this helpful policy point about the Spanish experience. I shall write to her on that matter.

Local Government: Economy

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the response to lockdown has shown that, where a full range of digital tools is available, people and businesses can locate almost anywhere. This could be transformative for rural economies, so will the Minister commit that, when we get details of the shared prosperity fund, there will a dedicated stream for rural areas that could work alongside new funds outlined in the Agriculture Bill?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

My Lords, I have already made the commitment that the UK shared prosperity fund will see no diminution in the support to enable us to level up our economy, including support for rural areas.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

I thank the noble Lord for raising the issue of support for coastal towns. It is important that those economies are raised up and do not fall behind the UK average. The whole purpose of this fund is to level up the United Kingdom, and I assure the noble Lord that we are specifically looking into the best way of doing that.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD)]

My Lords, the voluntary community and social enterprise sector has made very effective use of EU structural funds. However, generally it can be very difficult for the sector to access public sector procurement and bidding processes. Therefore, will the Minister undertake to consult the sector before the details of this new scheme are put in place?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. It is very important that we consult the local community and voluntary sector. This is an opportunity, through one fund, to reduce bureaucracy and avoid form-filling, and for precisely that reason we will engage with the wider voluntary and community sector.