Local Planning Authorities: Staffing

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 12th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are focused on the recruitment pipeline of planners and offering increased skills training to them. We have two schemes providing bursaries for master’s degrees in planning and have commissioned a nationwide survey of the skills and resources in local authorities with planning responsibilities. It will be the most detailed picture of planning capacity in England to date. We expect it to be published this spring, and will use it as an annual baseline to measure progress.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

How can it be a surprise that there is currently a shortage, given that His Majesty’s Government have removed the normal requirement that every local authority had to have a specific target of homes to be built? As any of us who had been in local government knew full well, the minute that went, local authorities that were strapped for cash would automatically not move forward immediately to replace planners who retired or moved on.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

Planning authorities still have an obligation to produce an up-to-date local plan, setting out how they plan to build the houses that their local areas need. The Government are focused on this and will shine a greater light of transparency on the authorities that do not have plans. We will be prepared to take any measures needed to put that in place.

Housing: Accessibility Standards

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes a good point. We should look at these standards in the context of a raft of new building safety regulations and standards that have been taken forward in recent years, and the need for housebuilders to adapt to them. There was a significant uplift to the environmental standards in 2021 and we have just launched a consultation on the future homes standard, which will be brought in by 2025 and ensure that all new housing is effectively net-zero ready.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My noble friend surely is aware that for care homes and similar establishments, it is absolutely vital that these new changes be implemented. I recognise that she has been in her present position for only a brief time, but will she make that clear to those responsible and send out a note to housing authorities, drawing attention to what everybody seems to agree should be happening?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

One of the ways we will signal and have signalled the importance of this to local authorities is through the update to the National Planning Policy Framework. It was updated in December 2023 to include a specific expectation that when planning housing for older people, particular regard is given to retirement housing, housing with care and care homes. So, we are already taking action.

Long-term Plan for Housing

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Thursday 11th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, as the National Planning Policy Framework’s primary purpose is more homes, is it not strange that His Majesty’s Government have yet to make any statement about a new concept of the new town movement? You can see on the ground the wonderful work that was done as long ago as the 30s with the garden city just alongside the A1—I drove past it yesterday. Then there are the new towns. My former constituency was Northampton, and there is the new city of Milton Keynes, which was only a village before. That concept surely has to have a role, modernised to meet today’s requirements in the future.

Secondly, my noble friend quite rightly says: “Yes, more new homes”. But is not the problem at the moment that the developers do not have the confidence that she clearly has? The figures for 2023 are very low. Are they not going to be only marginally better in 2024? Against that background, will His Majesty’s Government bring in new incentives for young couples to be able to provide some of that demand, so that developers can have some confidence to move forward?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend makes two very good points. England has a proud history of new town development, and well-planned, beautifully designed, locally led garden communities are playing a vital role in helping to meet our housing need, through providing a stable pipeline of new homes. The Garden Communities programme supports local authorities to build places that people are happy to call their home. That programme was launched in 2014, and has awarded over £58 million of capacity funding to assist places to deliver their proposals for housing. A further £12 million has also been invested to deliver the infrastructure critical to unblock the delivery of homes. The 47 locally led garden communities have the capacity to deliver over 300,000 new homes by 2050. That is something that the Government absolutely continue to support.

The number of planning consents being down was referenced by the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor. When it comes to the wider conditions in the housing market, we recognise that this is a challenging time. The broader economic conditions we face due to very high levels of inflation, and the high interest rates that are in place to bring that down, make it harder for people to get on the housing ladder. That is why this Government have been focused, laser-like, on tackling inflation. We met our commitment last year to halve the level of inflation, and are back on the road to the Bank of England’s 2% target. That is the most effective way in which we can make sure that people are able to afford their mortgages and access the housing market in the way they wish to. But there are also important things that we can do—for example, ensuring that our affordable housing programme continues throughout this period to provide more stability and certainty in terms of the pipeline of new homes while it is a difficult market out there for housebuilders.

Homelessness

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I acknowledge that those figures are too high. Our focus as a Government has been on preventing people falling into homelessness. That is what a large part of our budget has focused on. The noble Lord is also right that we need to increase forms of affordable housing. We need social rent, yes, but also all forms of affordable housing. That is what we are doing through our affordable housing programme, which is delivering large numbers of additional affordable housing into the system each year.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Does my noble friend—

[Lord Bird (CB)]

Are the Government aware—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. That is why we passed the Homelessness Reduction Act and why more than half the support we have put directly into tackling homelessness is around prevention. That is funding to local authorities to work with landlords to prevent evictions, for example, before people find themselves in the position of needing to seek out temporary accommodation.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Does my noble friend realise that it is just over 50 years since the last new town was designated: Milton Keynes? Part of the concept of new towns was to relieve inner-city homelessness and to provide decent homes for young and old couples who did not find them in the city. Will my noble friend look again at bringing back a new, modern—possibly garden—city concept so that this major problem can begin to be addressed?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, this Government embrace the building of the right homes in the right places; that includes new towns. It also includes greater densification in parts of our cities that are well connected to transport opportunities and jobs. We need more homes across the board, and that is what we are committed to delivering.

Home-ownership Rates

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2023 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to reverse the trend of falling rates of owner-occupation among the 25-34 age group.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Baroness Penn) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government have a range of schemes to help people into home ownership, including First Homes, shared ownership and the mortgage guarantee scheme. We have raised stamp duty thresholds so that, for properties up to £425,000, first-time buyers pay no stamp duty and, for properties up to £625,000, they pay only 5% on the amount above the £425,000 threshold. We remain committed to making home ownership a reality for as many young people as possible.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for the Answer but, frankly, it is not working, is it? If home ownership is so fundamental to this age group, surely we should be more generous. First, we should remove stamp duty. Secondly, there should be a savings scheme so that people can save for a proper deposit in relation to the market price level. Thirdly, tax relief should be what it used to be, when I and others in this House bought our first houses, on the whole of the mortgage. Finally—I am quite prepared to help my noble friend on this—let us approach the mortgage lenders so that, when somebody starts on a mortgage, there is a discount from the mortgage lender in the first few years.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend puts forward a number of approaches to tackling this problem. I agree on a great many of them; that is why, as I pointed out in my Answer, we have cut stamp duty for first-time buyers. We also have a savings scheme in place to help people with their deposits, because we know that is another barrier. The lifetime ISA applies a 25% government bonus to the savings that people put into that scheme. As for working with mortgage lenders, we have the mortgage guarantee scheme, which looks to expand the availability of 95% mortgages in the market, and we have worked closely with lenders in the current market to ensure that those who struggle to pay their mortgages are properly supported.

Levelling Up

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I assure the noble Lord that we are absolutely still committed to those 12 missions. There is a huge amount in today’s Autumn Statement that shows our commitment to delivering some of them—for example, through the allocation of further money to levelling-up partnerships and investment zones and pursuing greater devolution. We are taking other measures—for example, legislating to create a smoke-free generation that will help deliver the health and life expectancy-related missions—so there is work across government that will continue to deliver on those 12 missions.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Is my noble friend aware that, if we go back in time, the concept of levelling up when I was the leader of the London Borough of Islington was never even thought about? This is a huge step forward as a concept. When I first became a Member of Parliament, I represented a fourth-stage new town. The lessons learned between the experiences of first-stage new towns right the way through to the fourth stage were huge. The fourth paragraph of the Statement states:

“For instance, we have given local authorities greater freedom to adjust their town deal, future high street and levelling up fund projects”.


That is central today. Can my noble friend make sure that towns that have done it well are given huge publicity so that others can learn from success?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point about learning as we go and understanding what is effective in delivering our mission to level up. We have put in place comprehensive plans and published how we will approach evaluating the success of some of these projects. Of course, as part of that we want to publicise those projects that have had the biggest impact so that not only do they get the recognition that they deserve but others can learn from them.

Local Government Finance

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 21st November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are a big supporter of modern methods of construction, which I think is the broad equivalent of prefab houses. We seek to see more houses built using those methods of construction. As the noble and learned Baroness knows, it can be a very efficient way in which to produce new homes.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

I welcome my noble friend to her new role. I suspect that every Member of your Lordships’ House is aware that there is a chronic shortage of accommodation and in the supply of social housing. Against that background, now that she is in a position to have a look at the whole of this area, I hope my noble friend takes time to do that, and see in particular whether we can bring forward more social housing to address the huge need that we have at this difficult time.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend is absolutely right that there are a number of different actions that we need to take to address homelessness. We have the action on homelessness prevention strategy and the rough sleeping strategy; that is backed by more than £2 billion over three years, in addition to the increase in councils’ core budgets that I mentioned at the beginning. But we also need to look at the underlying supply of affordable and social homes, which is why we have the affordable homes programme in place. We are committed that that will continue to deliver large increases in the number of affordable homes available in this country.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 13th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Lab)]

My Lords, I also added my name to Amendment 258 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham. I commend his speech and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Northover. I will also say, in passing, how much I support the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, when moving his amendment and speaking to his others. The need to protect the users of pavements is great and it is very much consistent with what we seek to do with smoke-free pavement licences.

When the regulations were extended in 2021 at the height of the Covid epidemic, I tabled an amendment in this House to regret that the regulations

“were not revised to take account of the evidence of the benefits of 100 per cent smoke-free pavement licences”.

This was passed with strong support from across the House and a very substantial majority. In his response to the amendment, the Minister at the time, the noble Lord, Lord Greenhalgh, said:

“The impacts of passive smoking are very much a key concern and a top priority for this Government, which is why we should look to tackle this issue strategically. We will be a publishing a new tobacco control plan later this year, setting out our ambitious plans for England to be smoke free by 2030”.—[Official Report, 14/7/21; col. 1844.]


Although I welcome the tobacco control measures announced by the Government earlier this year, they just do not go far enough, as the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, said. I am concerned that the Government are missing, in the Bill, an opportunity to start delivering on the Smokefree 2030 ambition. Can the Minister confirm that the impacts of passive smoking are still a “top priority” for the Government?

If we want to create a smoke-free society, we need to create environments that support smokers to quit and help those who manage to quit to stay smoke-free. This means limiting people’s exposure to smoking and second-hand smoke in public places, as we did with the ban on smoking in indoor public places in 2007. That was a measure the noble Earl played such a distinguished part in bringing about.

We know, for example, that relapse is common among smokers trying to quit, with many smokers taking as many as 30 attempts before they successfully quit long term. Being around people smoking is a key factor in determining whether someone relapses and whether young people take up smoking in the first place. I note that 100% smoke-free seating is easy to understand, simple to implement and popular with the public. Unfortunately, the current approach is none of those things. Revising the regulations to require 100% smoke-free pavement licences would be a positive step towards delivering the Government’s vision of a smoke-free 2030 for England.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I am a non-smoker. I have never smoked. I have absolutely no intention of smoking. But I would point out to my noble friend on the Front Bench something on which I imagine he is well briefed. Local authorities already have the powers at their discretion to regulate smoking in licensed premises and on pavements outside pubs, bars and restaurants with exterior tables and seating. My noble friend who spoke earlier has been in local government, as have I. The powers are there already. In my judgment, it is for the local people to decide—not for some all-embracing Government above to dictate. There is no need for further central government legislation. The licence holder is already legally required to make sensible provision for seating where smoking is not permitted.

The noble Baroness who spoke earlier said, “Well it’s logical, if it’s banned internally then obviously you ban it externally”. May I suggest to the noble Baroness that external smoke is totally different? It dissipates far quicker outside than it does inside. Outside, it ends up becoming highly diluted and disappears into the atmosphere very quickly. Having said that, it is right that licence holders should remember to ask people to behave properly in the interests of those seating nearby, particularly children.

Frankly, this Bill should not be used as a back-door route to try to ban smoking in public places. We would be threatening pubs and cafés that, if they did not ban smoking outside their premises, they would be refused a licence. That would be thoroughly disproportionate.

As far as I know, my Government have no plan to ban outdoor smoking. It has rejected similar amendments in the past. Excessive regulation could even lead to some pub closures and job losses. This would be to no one’s benefit. Again, as a non-smoker, I find encouragement that the figures for people who smoke seem to go down every year. We should think back to what it was like in the 1970s. Would we have thought that the policies we have implemented would have achieved the current rate? Last year, 13.3% of the population were smoking; on the latest figures, this is down to 12.7%. So the reduction is there—it is happening—and certainly, to use this particular Bill to interfere with what local authorities want to do in their own area is, in my view, totally wrong.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I too support the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond. I am now caring for my mother and am a grandfather to very young grandchildren, so I have renewed my acquaintance with the problem, as he said, of seeking to go from A to B when there are so many obstacles in the way. His amendments go to the heart of the problem by recognising that pavements are for people to walk on.

I am also delighted to support the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, and other noble Lords in their amendment. I disagree wholeheartedly with the noble Lord, Lord Naseby. First, I do think that the health gain from this measure would be considerable. We are behind the curve in reaching the smoke-free target. Secondly, I disagree with him about the dissipation of smoke. Anyone who has had to walk past pubs where people are smoking outside would say it does not dissipate quickly enough. Thirdly, I do not think it would harm the pub trade; I think it would enhance it because, frankly, going through a fog to get into a pub is not very attractive at all.

On a more general point, the noble Lord, Lord Young, made it clear that he saw this as a popular public measure. I totally agree. I was a member of the Cabinet committee which basically tore up our 2005 manifesto because it was not strong enough. The result of that very rare rebellion by a Cabinet committee led to the ban on smoking in public places. And it was proved right—it was very popular and very effective.

I also recall moving the amendment on banning smoking in cars where children are present. That was overwhelmingly popular. When it went back to the Commons, the Government agreed. So many of their own Back-Benchers supported it because they had had such a lot of strong messages.

I have no doubt whatever that this will be a very positive and popular measure. I hope that the noble Earl will be able to say something positive about it.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 4th September 2023 Lords Chamber

Our amendment on Report now sets out a clear road map for implementation of embodied carbon reporting and regulation. The Government should seize the opportunity to progress with this now and realise the many benefits. It would mean alignment with many other countries which are already implementing regulations—France, Sweden, Denmark and others. There are also the efficiency benefits in aligning standards and assessment methodologies across industry. There are economic benefits too—for example, the development of new low-carbon building materials and reuse of buildings.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, it has been my privilege to have been involved in public sector housing for 50 years. I welcome the broad thrust of the thought of the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, that every home should be a healthy home.

We must be a little practical. I congratulate my noble friends on the Front Bench on the degree to which they have adjusted, even in the time of this Government. However, looking at some of the specifics, I live in Bedfordshire, and there are whole hosts of small developments there. They are historical and are basically just hamlets. There is no way that I would want to stop any new developments of hamlets of that nature. The residents cannot possibly walk to the shops in 10 or 20 minutes. It would probably take them half an hour. That is the practicality of life.

The second point—and I know that the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, feels strongly about this, and I share some of his concerns—relates to retail conversions in a fast-changing retail environment. In our county towns and other leading towns, we are now seeing a huge number of empty properties, a fair number of which are potentially being developed for living in. In no way can some of these shops meet all the requirements that are listed here. However, it is equally true that for some of the recent ones, which I have looked at locally, the PDR requirements have not been met properly. The noble Lord would be doing a major help to places such as Bedford, where we see an empty high street and we know that people want to convert some of those properties into flats and that there is a need for flats.

Finally, I would like to tell my noble friend and the House that there are 4.2 million people looking for affordable housing. I had the privilege of representing a new town; it worked because there was a major thrust of development. The principle of why it worked was that it was low-level, high-density building. I still think that that is the way forward. It does not mean that it cannot be healthy; it can and it must be healthy, and a great many of our new towns are low level and high density. I sympathise with my noble friend on the Front Bench. We have to move forward, but in a practical manner.

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I think I can beat the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, on his 50 years’ involvement with housing, because when I left university aged 20—which was more than 50 years ago—my first job was with Shelter, a newly formed organisation. I have not been involved in housing a great deal since, but that experience left me with an abiding conviction of the harm that is done to children and families, and to the prospects for individuals, by living in homes that are not fit for human habitation, that are not to the standards that we need, that are not secure and that deprive them of opportunities. So I very much welcome the amendments in this group that we have heard proposed very eloquently.

My two amendments are not about those high-level aspirations; they go back to the theme of delivery and how we actually make this happen. One deals with the supply side and the other with the demand side.

My Amendment 282H deals with rooftop solar power and the problem of getting affordable and clean energy to people. I am extremely grateful for the support of the noble Baronesses, Lady Sheehan and Lady Blackstone, and of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, who had brought forward his own amendment on this subject in Committee.

This amendment requires the Secretary of State to make building regulations to ensure that, in England, new homes and public and commercial buildings, as well as existing public and commercial buildings, are fitted with solar panels. It recognises that of course flexibility is needed: there will be circumstances in which design optimisation and practical constraints mean that it would not be possible or useful to put solar panels on every building. However, the default position should be installation, because that is how we give householders the opportunity to minimise the energy consumption of their homes and to live in warm homes at reduced cost.

The Government recognise this. They know that solar power is one of the cleanest, cheapest forms of energy, and they have therefore set a national target for 70 gigawatts from solar by 2035. This is not only to reduce emissions but to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels; this is not simply a net-zero issue but an energy security issue. It will also reduce the cost of energy bills for consumers, which, in the current situation with spikes in energy prices, means energy bills for the Government or taxpayers as well, because we have to subsidise those bills. In spite of these ambitions, the CCC’s recent assessment was that the Government’s solar targets are “significantly off track”. This is the same issue we were talking about earlier—that of delivery, rather than aspiration.

A recent report by the CPRE found that installing solar panels on new buildings, warehouse rooftops and other land such as car parks could provide at least 40 to 50 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity, contributing more than half of the national solar targets. Proposals in this amendment have widespread support—for example, from the Skidmore review, the Environmental Audit Committee and industry stakeholders such as Solar Energy UK. The provision would place no burden on households; indeed, it does the opposite, because it reduces financial outgoings. We all know that the cost of retrofitting—which we are doing constantly because we did not have the right standards in the first place—is more expensive. I hope that the Minister will think carefully about his response to the amendment.

My other amendment, Amendment 282L, deals with energy efficiency. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, who is very sorry that he could not be here, and to the noble Lords, Lord Stunell and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, for their support.

I am not going to weary the House by repeating at length the arguments on energy efficiency that I and many others have made on the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, the Energy Bill and this Bill. We have spoken at length on why it is crucial, can achieve multiple policy aims and will provide opportunities to contribute to levelling up, such as cheaper heating, rapid emission cuts, addressing the health implications of poor quality and damp homes, job creation in sustainable areas, high-quality skills and creating homegrown industries that can be rolled out across the country, because housing and buildings are everywhere. I will not repeat and lay down a list of all the reports, parliamentary and external, that have endorsed the need for both a coherent strategy and urgent action on energy efficiency. Yet the CCC recently concluded that the Government continue

“to avoid big, impactful decisions and action”

in relation to emissions from buildings.

This amendment is practical and unprescriptive. It merely requires the Government to consider all the options available and to produce a comprehensive plan, so that industry and the public have certainty, clear direction and clear milestones. The sector is poised to take action to scale up what could be a hugely productive market, but time and again in this area we have seen schemes start with a blaze of glory and then splutter into nothing. They have reduced confidence—confidence in the sector and in home owners, householders and tenants to support this.

This is an important time for the House to make clear its view on energy efficiency. We passed an amendment on energy efficiency on the Energy Bill. Tomorrow, along the corridor, they will be discussing that amendment. It will come back to us on ping-pong. It is important that we continue to talk about this. It is also important because we have a new Secretary of State: she will have an enormous in-tray but also opportunities. There is an opportunity for what we have been talking about all evening—strategic and comprehensive leadership. This amendment gives her that opportunity, and I hope it will be supported.

Building Safety (Responsible Actors Scheme and Prohibitions) Regulations 2023

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Baroness Scott of Bybrook) (Con)]

My Lords, these regulations establish a responsible actors scheme for developers under Sections 126 to 129 of the Building Safety Act 2022, focused on the remediation by developers of historic fire safety defects in residential buildings they have developed in England. Developers that are eligible for the scheme but choose not to join, and developers that join the scheme but then renege on their membership commitments, will be prohibited from carrying out major development or obtaining building control approvals.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it became evident that thousands of residential buildings over 11 metres had serious fire safety defects. This put resident safety at unacceptable risk while leaving many leaseholders facing potentially life-changing remediation costs. This scheme is one part of the Government’s wider response to the building safety issues that came to light following Grenfell. In addition to the scheme, we are protecting residents by investing £5.1 billion in remediating unsafe cladding on 18 metre-plus buildings; securing industry contributions to remediation through introducing a building safety levy; implementing statutory leaseholder protections against unfair costs of remediation; and creating new legal avenues for affected parties to recover remediation costs from those who caused the problem.

This scheme focuses on major private sector developers, which sit at the top of the supply chain and have overall responsibility for their developments. The Government engaged with major developers through a remediation pledge and then a legally binding developer remediation contract. I welcome the action taken by 48 developers that have signed the developer remediation contract; these include the top 10 private sector UK housebuilders. The scheme will create a level playing field whereby eligible developers that commit to remediate are not placed at a competitive disadvantage compared with those that do not.

The regulations set out three descriptions of persons who are eligible to join the scheme. Developers based anywhere may be eligible for the scheme, if they developed relevant buildings in England. First, major housebuilders are eligible where their principal business has been residential property development; they were responsible for the development or refurbishment of one or more 11 metre-plus residential buildings in England in the 30 years ending 4 April 2022; and they meet the profits condition set out in the regulations. Secondly, developers are eligible where they meet the profits condition and they were responsible for the development or refurbishment of at least two buildings that we know are defective because the buildings have been assessed as eligible for a relevant government remediation fund. Thirdly, there is a voluntary eligibility provision. This allows other persons to join, where they were responsible for the development or refurbishment of a building that would require remediation under the developer remediation contract.

The profits condition is focused on typical operating profits averaged across the three years from 2017 to 2019, which were not impacted by the Covid pandemic. Both the profits condition and other aspects of the eligibility provisions make appropriate provision for the complex company group structures used by some developers.

The regulations make clear that registered providers of social housing are not eligible for the scheme. They will not be invited or permitted to join.

The core conditions of membership of the scheme are for developers to commit to identifying and remediating life-critical fire safety defects in residential buildings over 11 metres in height that they developed or refurbished in England in the 30 years ending on 4 April 2022, and to reimburse taxpayers for government-funded remediation of such buildings. To demonstrate their commitment, an eligible developer must enter into a self-remediation contract: a contract containing the terms of the developer remediation contract published by the Secretary of State in March this year. The membership conditions require members to give effect to their remediation and reimbursement commitments in accordance with the contract’s terms.

I turn now to the application provisions. The Committee will be aware that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has drawn attention to two technical aspects of the drafting of these regulations, including one relating to the scheme’s application provisions. I am grateful to the Joint Committee for its time, its valuable scrutiny and its report, which the Government have carefully considered. We have corresponded with the Joint Committee and provided a memorandum setting out our position, which is printed as an appendix to the Joint Committee’s report.

I welcome this opportunity to reaffirm our overall position on the issues raised, as explained in the memorandum. On the application provisions, we consider it to be clear in context that, where the Secretary of State identifies that a person is likely to be eligible for the scheme, they will be invited to join it, but the registered providers of social housing will not be invited to join, as they are not eligible under Regulation 6. In light of the Committee’s report, we will monitor implementation carefully and consider bringing forward amending regulations in the event that the regulations give rise to a misunderstanding in practice as to who is invited or able to join the scheme. The Government will also issue guidance on aspects of the scheme. However, the issue of developer remediation of unsafe buildings is urgent, and I seek the Committee’s approval of these regulations today.

The regulations set out the time period to join the scheme and give developers an opportunity to make representations if they believe that they are not eligible. They also set out how developers can join the scheme in other circumstances, including under the voluntary eligibility provisions.

Membership of the scheme may be revoked for breach of membership conditions or ended without fault where a member has substantially satisfied their obligations. Members will have the opportunity to make representations to the Secretary of State before their membership is revoked. Should an eligible developer decide not to join the scheme by the end of the application period, or should their membership be revoked for failure to comply with the scheme’s conditions, they will, in accordance with the regulations, be prohibited from carrying out major development or obtaining building control approvals.

At this point the developer, and known persons controlled by the developer, will be notified and then added to a published prohibitions list, which will be used by local authorities for enforcement. Only a person named on the prohibitions list will be subject to the prohibitions. The regulations also apply the prohibitions to persons controlled by the developer to make sure that developers cannot easily avoid the prohibitions by continuing their development business through other entities they control. Prohibited persons will be subject to a planning prohibition that prevents them carrying out major development in England, except where planning permission is received before these regulations come into effect. Development of land carried out by a prohibited developer in breach of a prohibition will constitute a breach of planning control.

The regulations include provision that developers notify the local planning authority about their status as a prohibited person, or when the prohibitions are lifted. The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has reported on the absence of a specific sanction for failure to give notice under these provisions. I would like to reassure the Committee that these regulations are effective without such a sanction. The primary mechanism for identifying prohibited persons will be the prohibitions list published by the Secretary of State, so local planning authorities will have access to all the information they need even if a developer fails to notify them. In addition, any developer that engages in development contrary to the prohibition will as a result be subject to sanctions through planning enforcement.

The regulations also establish a building control prohibition, which prevents prohibited persons gaining initial and final building control approval in respect of any building work that requires such approval. The prohibitions have limited exceptions. The purpose of these exceptions is to mitigate potential impact on innocent third parties such as off-plan buyers, the wider public and certain entities that are not in the building industry.

The building control prohibition is subject to exceptions that seek to protect innocent third-party purchasers of properties from a prohibited developer, including a specific exception to assist those whose deposits could be at risk if a prohibition came into effect after they had exchanged contracts. There are also exceptions to ensure that emergency repairs and other repairs to any occupied building that are necessary for the safety of residents can proceed.

Both prohibitions are subject to exceptions to exclude critical national infrastructure projects and to permit certain entities in developers’ corporate groups that are not in the building industry to have the prohibitions disapplied to them where this would not frustrate the purpose of the scheme.

I know the Committee will also be concerned about other industry actors, particularly construction products manufacturers. It is unacceptable that cladding and insulation manufacturers have not yet acknowledged their responsibility for the legacy of unsafe buildings. Most recently, the Secretary of State has written to three industry participants, Kingspan, Arconic and Saint-Gobain, and to their institutional shareholders, to make it clear that those manufacturers must contribute to the cost of remediation or may face severe consequences. The Government will consider all options to ensure that construction products manufacturers contribute their fair share.

These regulations launch an important scheme for developers to remediate unsafe buildings. Given the urgency of this issue, we are bringing forward these regulations for a scheme focused on larger developers at speed. We propose to extend the scheme over time to cover all developers that have built defective buildings over 11 metres and should be paying to fix them. I commend these draft regulations to the Committee.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I very much welcome the way my noble friend has introduced these important regulations. My dear late father was an architect so I was brought up in that climate, and I do not think anybody in the industry disputes the fact that those responsible for developing unsafe buildings should remedy the defects at their own cost as quickly as possible. That bit seems to be agreed all round.

However, there are some aspects of the scheme that I hope my noble friend will take on board and that should probably result in some changes. The first is the presumption that anyone who has developed a building above 11 metres has to bear the burden of proof that their buildings are not unsafe. That is a pretty costly execution to be done, plus I wonder whether this self-examination is actually the right way forward. What ought to happen is that a regulator should be employed and report accordingly to the Secretary of State.

Secondly—and this is an important dimension—the regulations impose qualifying criteria for membership that appear to bear no rational relationship with the harm identified. Rather than specifying membership criteria by reference to the number of buildings above 11 metres developed, instead the criteria relate to profitability. The result is that a cowboy developer that has built countless buildings of 11 metres and over unprofitably appears to escape the criteria, but for the responsible developer that has built virtually no buildings above 11 metres, profitability is required to join the scheme, with all the obligations that entails.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I had finished two of the three key features I wanted to address, which were eligibility and obligations. I now turn to probably the most important of the lot: sanctions. As I understand it, failure to join the RAS means exclusion from the planning and building control systems. In effect, that means exclusion from most commercial and residential development in England for all companies, including non-developer companies—for example, an engineering subsidiary wanting to expand.

These sanctions are automatic. The regulations remove discretion in their use from the Secretary of State. The underlying Act originally contemplated the availability of discretion, but somehow it does not appear to have been carried through to the regulations. There are no mechanisms to determine whether the sanctions are proportionate to the risk or the harm. These coercive penalties would also apply to any further membership conditions applied in future, including compulsory financial contributions for works to buildings to which the scheme member had no connection at all.

I conclude with my reading of the situation. The severity of the penalties and the sanctions, the lack of discretion in their application, the arbitrary nature of inclusion in the scheme and the effect on employees, subcontractors, other stakeholders and shareholders seem to me, and to others outside who I have talked to, to be disproportionate and suggest that—I hope—His Majesty’s Government will think again. This industry is absolutely vital to this country; we see that daily in the newspapers.

My noble friend mentioned the material suppliers. In many ways, to any of us who take a real interest in this, they are equally liable. After all, without rotten materials that were highly inflammable, we probably would not have had Grenfell. I am surprised that, if I understand what my noble friend said, so far no single firm in that field has contributed anything or is proposing to join the scheme and contribute.

The other area that my noble friend did not cover was overseas developers. A fair number of projects was undertaken by overseas developers. We have a diplomatic corps in these countries. I hope that our ambassadors or high commissioners in the relevant countries have been given the information to pursue these developers. They should be looked upon just as firmly as are our developers. If they do not wish to contribute at all, frankly, in my judgment they should be barred from working in the United Kingdom in future.

[Baroness Pinnock (LD)]

My Lords, it is seven years since the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people and devastated the lives of countless others. We owe it to them, and to all those still living in buildings deemed to be unsafe, to find a route to full remediation that excludes innocent tenants and innocent leaseholders from any of the costs.

As the Minister stated, the Building Safety Act included the measures that the Government intended to take to enforce the cost of remediation on those who developed the buildings. They should also have included a route to impose the costs of remediation on those who used the flammable cladding. I know that the Minister referenced this but to date, seven years on, the Government have not been able to find a route to force the three substantial manufacturers that the Minister named to accept responsibility and accept that they ought to pay towards the costs of remediation.

Then there are the construction companies that omitted fire breaks, relied on false material-testing outcomes and relied on building inspectors contracted by the very same construction company. We Liberal Democrats have said from the very beginning, seven years ago, that whatever legislation is passed to put these wrongs right, leaseholders must not pay a penny.

Through the Building Safety Act and this statutory instrument, the Government have focused entirely on the developers. Of course, that is right, but there are government responsibilities here as well. I am talking about all Governments, not necessarily this one. Thirty years ago, those who privatised the Building Research Establishment and the British Board of Agrément enabled building control inspectors to become independent of the local planning authority. All these policy decisions played a part in enabling the Grenfell disaster. I say that because that has been said in the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

No doubt, when the inquiry publishes its findings, hopefully sometime this year, it will expose these facts and attribute relative responsibilities. Meanwhile, these regulations are draconian; in many cases rightly so. However, there are inevitably some unforeseen consequences. The first of these relates to developers that are brought into the scheme and discover that, following intrusive building inspections, their developments need no further action. The noble Lord, Lord Naseby, and I have obviously had access to the same lobbying material from those in the industry who are concerned about some aspects of these regulations.

The principle is sound; the implementation is leading to some circumstances in which those who are not responsible will be required to fund remediation for which they have no part to play. The issues arise, first, from the criteria the Government have set. As the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, pointed to, these are around profitability—so those developers that were unprofitable but nevertheless built these faulty and dangerous buildings are excluded. I am sure the Government did not intend that to be the case, so I hope the Minister will point to the way in which that will not happen. It does not seem right at all, because we know how companies can evade some of the requirements put on them.

The next area has again been raised by the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, but I want to emphasise some of it. I remember the debates on the Building Safety Act. Initially, it was all about trying to ensure that only those developers and construction companies, and those who knowingly supplied flammable cladding—I am still waiting for that bit; I say “knowingly” as it is in the evidence of the Grenfell Tower inquiry—would be made liable for the remediation cost. That is fair and is absolutely the right thing to do. Those who did these things knowingly must be made to pay for them, but not those who did not. Unfortunately, the great scoop of these regulations will pull in some companies and developers that built blocks of flats of over 11 metres but kept to the rules that existed at the time. That does not seem right.

Another issue with these regulations—I am sure that the Minister will recognise this as an unforeseen outcome of them—is that I could see no way by which developers, once they join the scheme and then assess their buildings, at a considerable cost, are able to leave the scheme if they find that there is no action to be taken. This issue was in the lobbying material as well. Perhaps the Minister will either give me an assurance that they can or point me to where it says that they can leave, because that would be helpful.

There is another issue with these regulations, which are very extensive. Many developers are part of a wider family of companies, some of which will have had no part to play in development. That family of companies is being brought into the scheme and could be sanctioned, even if it is a company that has nothing to do with development. That does not seem right either, and I am sure the Government did not want it to happen. It would be foolish, but the sanctions are automatic.

This is all about the unforeseen outcomes of some draconian regulations, which I support. But we have to try to find a way in which good players are able to escape the scheme, and the sanctions and obligations that are part of it.

I will now raise the consequential impact of these regulations on local planning authorities. I remind the Committee that I am a councillor and a vice-president of the Local Government Association. I notice that there is an impact assessment, and calculations have been made of additional costs, but I am not sure that it has taken into account the differential impacts on local planning authorities across the country. The regulations will have very little impact on some, and a major impact on others. For those on which there will be a major impact, there will be expectations of additional members of staff, either in building inspection or as local planners. That does not seem to have been raised in the impact assessment as a calculation of costs to local planning authorities. I know the Minister agrees with the “new burdens” philosophy—the agreement that any new burdens that the Government impose will be met in full—so will the costs be met in full and, importantly, over the lifetime of these regulations?

Secondly, in her opening remarks—for which I thank her—the Minister emphasised social housing remediation a couple of times. Can she remind us where the costs for essential remediation of social housing—either local authority housing or social housing providers—will come from?

My next point is about the end date for the regulations. It seems that they are designed to respond to a specific set of issues so, once all the remediation work has been done, will the regulations cease? I could not find a sunset clause; should there be one? Otherwise, we will have sets of regulations that are no longer relevant.

Finally, I remind the Minister that these regulations address the safety issues facing only those who live in buildings that are more than 11 metres high. She will know what I am about to say, because I feel very strongly about it: those living in blocks that are 11 metres or lower are being forgotten. The leaseholders who live there still face extortionate insurance costs, for example, and many are still trapped in their flats, unable to sell. My big ask of the Minister is this: will she agree to meet those of us in the House who are concerned about this situation to discuss it and see whether we can find a way forward? It is not going away. The Government have tried; I am not pointing fingers. It is just that this is where we are, and we have to try to find a solution.

In conclusion, I totally support these regulations, with the caveats that I have explained. I want them to succeed, but I want the Minister and the Government to think about the unconsidered consequences. I look forward to what she has to say in response.