Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for State Housing, Communities and Local Government on 27 November 2024 (HC14997), which criteria from the October 2012 call-in policy were engaged when the Deputy Prime Minister called-in the application for the Chinese Embassy in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 14997 on 27 November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Home Office and its agencies have had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, regarding the called-in planning application for the Chinese Embassy in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the government of China or its representatives relating to the planning application for the Chinese Embassy in the UK, and on what dates they received representations.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there will be any consequences for London boroughs and the London Assembly if they fail to meet the targets set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to my answer to Question HL1467 on 23 October 2024.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to work with councils and housing associations to review how the regeneration and densification of existing estates can help meet their target of 1.5 million new homes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 September (HL630), whether they can produce a price per square metre for housing by local authority, based on the regional price estimate per square metre produced by the Office for National Statistics.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend that the new National Planning Policy Framework proposals that are currently being consulted on should be used as a basis for planning decisions before they are adopted.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 September (HL633), what additional powers will be provided to local authorities to encourage land owners to increase build-out rates on sites allocated for housing.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 2206 on 5 September 2024.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund local authorities’ additional school capital needs for any potential increase in pupils in local authority maintained schools, as a result of levying VAT on private school fees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The government anticipates that the number of pupils who may switch schools as a result of the proposed VAT changes affecting private schools represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector. Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that it will represent an increase of less than 1%. HM Treasury will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note at the Budget on 30 October, which will set out its assessment. These small pressures will be considered as part of business as usual capital allocations.
Ensuring schools have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of the department’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
The department has allocated £1.8 billion in capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings for the 2024/25 financial year. This funding, which includes school condition allocations and the budget for the condition improvement fund programme, was based on a methodology that takes account of data on condition, location and pupil numbers weighted by phase of education. Pupil number data was taken from the spring 2023 census and the 2022/23 Individualised Learner Record. Details of the methodology are published on GOV.UK.
The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data from the annual school capacity survey. Over £700 million of allocations have been confirmed to support local authorities to create school places needed in September 2025 and September 2026.
£850 million has also been allocated to local authorities for 2024/25 to support them to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities, or who require alternative provision. This funding was allocated using data from the school census, the Special Educational Needs survey (SEN2) and the school capacity survey (SCAP23).
School revenue funding for the 2024/25 financial year has already been allocated using pupil numbers recorded in the October census 2023. The department is also providing almost £1.1 billion through the new core schools budget grant (CSBG) to support schools with their overall costs. CSBG allocations for the 2024/25 financial year (September 2024 to March 2025) have also been calculated by reference to the October census 2023.
The department’s expenditure limits for 2025/26 will be agreed at the Budget on 30 October. This will also confirm budgets for 2024/25. This includes the 2025/26 core schools’ budget and school capital budgets.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, what steps they will take to ensure there is sufficient highways infrastructure to support housing growth given that the proposed reforms would introduce a high bar for refusing development on highways grounds.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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 30th 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.