Lord Jamieson

No contract held by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government explicitly provides for cost increases as a result of changes to National Insurance contribution rates as these are classed as General Change in Law. Where the contract allows for rates to be reviewed, any request by a supplier to do so would be considered by MHCLG on a case-by-case basis.

Pursuant to previous debate [Column 569 Volume 844] where this issue was raised, the Government was elected on a manifesto promising to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections, strengthening our democracy and increasing the engagement of young people. This commitment does not extend to lowering the age at which an individual can hold elected office. The Government has no plans to change the candidacy age for any elections. We are therefore rightly focusing our efforts on delivering our manifesto commitment.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 27566 on 7 February 2025.

The Government has committed to providing multi-year funding settlements and moving away from wasteful competitive bidding in order to give councils the stability and certainty they need to plan for the long-term. No department currently holds information on all individual programmes or initiatives that require local authorities to bid to the government for funding.

MHCLG is leading a programme of funding simplification to move Whitehall away from a system reliant on hundreds of separate funding pots and tight spending controls, to one based on partnership and respect. We estimate there are currently circa 300 grants provided to the sector each year with around a third allocated via a bidding process. We are working with all government departments to confirm (1) data on existing grants, including those allocated by bidding process, and (2) arrangements for the 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement, where the Government has committed to further consolidation.

In line with the usual approach, we will set out more detail at the local government finance settlement, towards the end of the calendar year.

The Government has moved away from individual negotiated deals to a consistent devolution offer for new areas and to existing Mayors and combined authorities, as set out in the English Devolution White Paper. Discussions on new devolution agreements or unlocking further powers for existing combined authorities are led by the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution on behalf of the Government. There is no role for the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff in these negotiations.

New devolution agreements must be supported by all the proposed constituent councils and can only go ahead if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the statutory tests have been met to proceed with the necessary secondary legislation to establish the strategic authority.

On 5^th February the government formally invited unitary proposals from all the councils in two-tier areas and their neighbouring small unitaries. No London Boroughs were included in this invitation.

MHCLG has not received any representations on this matter from the government of China or its representatives.

Representations made to the public inquiry are routinely listed at the end of the Inspector's Report.

The consultation to which the Noble Lord refers, which closed on 26 February, sought views from across the local government sector on the appropriateness of creating a national body to consider appeals, alongside a range of other proposed measures to strengthen the local government standards framework.

We are now in the process of analysing those responses to ensure we are taking full account of sector views on all of the measures proposed. The government Response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing detailed implementation plans and, as appropriate, determine the budget implications of the proposals Government commits to pursuing.

MHCLG has not received any representations on this matter from the government of China or its representatives. Representations ahead of the public inquiry are dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 14997 on 27 November 2024.

We do not normally disclose details of internal discussions. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda.

The Office for National Statistics has published data on house price per square metre and house price per room, England and Wales, down to local authority level for 2004 to 2016. These figures are available at the following link. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/housepricepersquaremetreandhousepriceperroomenglandandwales/2004to2016

Data for more recent years have not been produced at local authority level.

I refer the noble Lord to my answer to Question HL1467 on 23 October 2024.

Grant funding provided through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 can be used to fund replacement homes alongside new affordable homes, as part of wider estate regeneration plans. The Government has additionally allocated £50 million of new investment over the next two years to the Greater London Authority to unlock and accelerate existing estate regeneration schemes across the capital.

The National Planning Policy Framework published in December 2023 remains extant national policy.

The consultation published in July 2024 set out several proposals, including to reverse changes made to the NPPF in December 2023 that had been identified as having a negative impact on housing supply. The consultation closed on 24 September and responses are being analysed with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year, including any transitional provisions setting out when such changes should take effect for purposes of both plan and decision-making.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 2206 on 5 September 2024.

The requested statistics are not held.

Our consultation on national planning policy delivers on our manifesto commitment to reversing the changes made to the NPPF in December 2023 that were detrimental to housing supply. These changes are an essential part of meeting our commitment to building 1.5m new homes. Alongside this, we have set out clear plans for improving the operation of the presumption and for boosting the capacity of LA planners.

We are clear that transport infrastructure is crucial in enabling sustainable development and that necessary transport infrastructure should be delivered through developer contributions.

However, the current approach to transport planning is dated and for that reason, we set out proposals for a ‘vision-led’ approach in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation published on 30^th July.

It remains the case that development should only be prevented or refused on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety, or the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would be severe.

The Government is committed to building 1.5m homes over the next parliament. To meet our target will require record levels of housebuilding. That is why we are making changes to planning rules that will unblock the system and ensure the homes we need get built. The consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system that began on Tuesday 30 July includes proposals designed to support increased build out rates and promote mixed-tenure schemes that meet the housing needs of local people. In conjunction with the start of that consultation, the housebuilding industry made a public commitment to increase the pace at which homes are delivered and to get on and build where sites are viable and have implementable consent. The Government has also taken swift action to unblock stalled sites through the creation of New Homes Accelerator Task Force.