Leasehold: Building and Fire Safety

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Thursday 16th September 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My noble friend is right, which is why we are looking at a new levy and a developer tax to ensure that the industry contributes. At this stage we are in consultation. We need to ensure that it is set at a level that raises substantial funds precisely for that purpose.

[Lord Paddick (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a leaseholder whose freeholder is trying to persuade us to allow him to extend the building by three storeys, with the inducement that it will cover the cost of the cladding remedial work if we agree to that extension. What right do leaseholders have to apply for a government grant when the freeholder, who also owns the management company, does not want to do so himself?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

First of all, the duty to keep the building safe is on the building holder. There seem to be a small number of isolated cases in which the building owner is able to access funds and is not doing so. We would like to be apprised of that situation, so that we can see what we can do to encourage them to do the right thing.

Homeowners: Cladding-related Costs

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Thursday 24th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Of course it is right that the polluter pays. That is why we have announced not only a building safety levy on future high-rise developments as part of the building safety Bill, but a tax on developers that is aiming to raise some £2 billion over 10 years.

[Lord Paddick (LD) [V]]

My Lords, because of high demand on relatively few surveyors, the hazardous cladding on my home in London was only recently identified as needing to be replaced. We have been told that applications to the Government remediation fund closed in July last year. Leaseholders now face bills of up to £15,000 for something not of their making. How can the Government justify such a position?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Although the registration closed for the initial tranche of £1 billion, we have announced a further £3.5 billion. There is a process of registration for further amounts of money available. If the noble Lord’s building qualifies, he would be eligible for government funding and would be able to register. Further details will be announced in due course.

Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Paddick (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I completely agree with the speeches of my noble friends Lady Pinnock and Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville. I am not and never have been a local councillor, but my noble friend Lady Pinnock asked me, as a police officer, to speak on the protection of statues.

I agree with everything that the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton, has said on this issue. The order includes a permanent change to Class B of Part 11 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, which specifies that development is not permitted if it involves the demolition of certain structures, even if development otherwise would be permitted. The exemption applies to the demolition of statues, memorials and monuments which have been in place for at least 10 years. The changes in this order mean that, in future, this will require an application for planning permission, unless they are already covered by other legislation. This permanent change in legislation is justified as a result of a change in government policy announced in a Written Ministerial Statement—a change that provided no automatic opportunity for debate in Parliament.

Paragraph 7.29 of the Explanatory Memorandum states:

“Statues, memorials and monuments which are erected to commemorate prominent individuals and events can become the subject of disagreement. Government considers that decisions to remove such public landmarks should be made following proper process in accordance with the local development plan, national planning policy and other material considerations, and consultation with the public.”


Although this all sounds very reasonable, as the next paragraph explains,

“Separately to this legislative change”


the Government have

“introduced a requirement for local planning authorities to notify such planning applications to the Secretary of State”,

to allow the Secretary of State to call in such applications for their determination, instead of determination by the local planning authority.

Quite rightly, the Government’s other legislation proposed to protect statues—to enable magistrates to commit someone to the Crown Court if they damage a memorial, in order that a harsher penalty can be imposed—is being proposed in, and will be debated fully as part of, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. That is primary legislation—Clause 46 of the Bill currently before the other place. That the Bill offers more protection to statues than to emergency workers speaks volumes about this Government’s priorities.

This is a significant policy and legislative change, giving central government decisions on local planning issues because, potentially, a 10 year-old statue is in the way of what would otherwise be permitted development. But the Government have given themselves the power to overrule local democratic authorities as a result of a policy change announced in a Written Statement and implemented by means of a statutory instrument, subject only to the negative procedure. That is totally unacceptable.

This, and the other major legislative changes proposed in the order, has no place in a statutory instrument, let alone in one subject only to the negative procedure. It is all very well for the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, whom I greatly admire and respect, to say that a fatal Motion should only rarely be used, but this is one of those rare occasions. When my noble friend Lady Pinnock divides the House, I will be voting with her. I urge all noble Lords to do the same. Parliament is being treated with contempt, and we should not allow that.

Covid-19 Secure Marshals

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I note the rhetorical flourish, but marshals have already been deployed throughout the country very successfully to encourage and support compliance and to welcome people back into public areas—places such as Leeds, Bradford, Cornwall, Devon, Peterborough and Crawley. We will continue to work with local areas to come up with approaches to deployment and to the training that is required. An announcement on funding will be made in due course.

[Lord Paddick (LD)]

My Lords, as the Minister will know from his time as London’s second deputy mayor for policing and crime, encouragement and enforcement of the rule of six would be an ideal role for police community support officers and special constables, who have always been more representative of, and closer to, their local communities than police officers. Since 2010, however, their numbers have fallen by almost 14,000, alongside 14,000 fewer police officers in the same period—but, unlike the modest recent increase in police officer numbers, their numbers continue to decline. What will the Government do to reverse the cuts in police community support officers and special constables, who are best placed to carry out this type of work?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the enforcement approach to be adopted by the police involves engagement, explanation and encouragement first—before moving to enforcement. As noble Lords will know, this Government are committed to increasing the number of police officers with enforcement powers on our streets, but we recognise the important contributions that police community support officers make.

Business and Planning Bill

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Paddick]

26: Clause 11, page 8, line 33, leave out from “must” to end of line 35 and insert—
“(a) be made at a time when the licensed premises are open for the purposes of selling alcohol for consumption on the premises; and(b) be made at a time no later than 11.00pm.”Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would mean that off-sales could not take place after 11pm, regardless of whether the premises can sell alcohol on the premises after 11pm.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

Do not worry, my Lords, this is not going to be a long statement. I thought it might assist noble Lords to know that I intend to table an amendment on Report to introduce a standard cessation time of 11 pm for operators to trade under the new off-sales permissions.

[Lord Paddick (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her promise of an amendment but, regrettably, we have a series of amendments in this group: Amendments 26, 30, 32, 34 and 35. I will briefly put on the record what they are, although they are set out in the Marshalled List.

In addition to the amendment promised, the Government need to think about amendments that aim to prevent street drinking and disorder, particularly late at night, where late-night licences are in operation for on-licence premises in the vicinity of residential premises, as the Minister has suggested she will do. If revellers who have already consumed a lot of alcohol are allowed to purchase alcohol to take away just before premises close, sometimes just before 3 am, there is a danger that they will simply party in nearby streets, to the detriment of local residents. The Minister’s suggested, albeit completely last-minute, promise of an amendment is welcome to that extent, but, whatever the hour, if alcohol is sold in open containers such as pint beer glasses, there is every incentive to consume it in surrounding streets rather than take it home or to the office. If alcohol is sold without restriction as to the kind of container—such as pint beer glasses—in which it can be supplied, as allowed under the Bill, there is a danger of injury either by assault or by accident; for example, were someone to fall while carrying a beer glass. The potential for both assault and accident increases with consumption of alcohol.

At Second Reading, the noble Earl, Lord Howe, tried to allay these concerns by pointing to the provisions in the Bill to review and revoke off-sales if premises were causing problems, and the power under Section 76 of Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to close down premises. Those provisions are largely unworkable as they require the particular premises responsible for the problem of street drinking, violence and disorder to be identified. In central London, for example, there are hundreds of on-licence premises within short distances of one another, and it would be practically impossible to identify from which premises the revellers causing the problems had bought their alcohol. There are more than 100 premises with post-1 am licences in Soho alone.

Some of those most likely to be affected, represented by the West End Community Network, will support what the Minister has promised because they support an 11 pm end time for off-sales and have not asked for a restriction on when off-sales can begin. Can the Minister explain why the Government have left it until tonight to give even the slightest indication that they are prepared to bring forward their own amendment? Will she agree to meet me and other interested Peers between now and Report to discuss both the Government’s proposed amendments and the other amendments in my name in this group? In the meantime, despite what the Minister has said, I move Amendment 26 in order for her to respond at the end of the debate.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees]

Several speakers have withdrawn from this part of the proceedings: the noble Lords, Lord Harris of Haringey, Lord Randall of Uxbridge, Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, Lord Naseby and Lord Hayward.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the off-sale of cheap alcohol is not a novel concept in terms of the Bill. I totally concur with the noble Baroness’s concerns about the harms of alcohol and about the accessibility of cheap alcohol attracting people who might not have enough money to go to the pub. Ironically, that is why I support pubs: because drinking is done in a much more controlled way. Licensees have an obligation to chuck people out of the pub if they are behaving irresponsibly. Therefore, landlords are prohibited from selling off-sales as well as on-sales to someone who is clearly drunk. It is a good safeguard.

[Lord Paddick [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Balfe and Lord Sheikh, for supporting Amendments 30, 32 and 35. There appears to have been a mis-communication over the extent of the amendments that the Government were going to bring forward on Report, which took me slightly off guard—so, with the leave of the House, I will say something more.

I thank the West End Community Network, the Soho Society and the Covent Garden Community Association for their briefings on these issues. I am grateful for the Minister agreeing that new off-sales should be limited to 11 pm. But the Minister does not appear to have heard my reasoning as to why the measures she set out to vary off-sales licences and the power that the police have to close on-licence premises are not effective. I will not repeat them again; I will allow her to read them in Hansard.