Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the protection afforded to views of landscape or of historical note outside London.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that developments are sympathetic to local character and history, including the surrounding built environment and landscape setting. The Framework further sets out that planning policies and decisions should also contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing valued landscapes.
Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and National Landscapes which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect, if any, of levels of street violence, drug dealing and rough sleeping on London’s international reputation and standing as the capital city.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the serious impact that robbery and theft from the person offences have on public safety, both in terms of the harm caused to victims and the wider implications for communities.
Through the Home Offices Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles. This will provide a more visible and effective service to the public, with each neighbourhood having a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues, including robbery and theft from the person.
We also recognise that homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25).
As part of the Rough Sleeping Recovery and Prevention Grant (RSPARG) £63,964,330 was allocated across London in 25/26. The RSPARG gives local authorities the flexibility to determine the most suitable rough sleeping services required to meet local need.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to end youth homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 60575 on 24 June 2025.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of building sites in England with planning consent on which construction work was started in the second quarter of 2025; and what percentage this represented of all sites in England with planning permission.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department does not hold the requested information.
On 25 May, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built.
On the same day, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential development, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the government intends bring forward the regulations to implement these measures at the earliest practical opportunity with the new build out reporting framework coming into force from 2026.
Asked by: Lord Patten (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 23 January (HL3940), what "factors" they use to assess the productivity of HM Land Registry, and what evidence they have that the hybrid model of working from home and office has "continued to improve" its productivity.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The measure of productivity of HM Land Registry, to which the previous answer referred, is based primarily on the subset of applications to HMLR which request a change to the register, and require manual processing by a caseworker, weighted by their relative complexity, and divided by the number of caseworkers deployed to the task. From 2023 to 2024, a period throughout which hybrid working has been in place, HMLR’s productivity increased by 7.1% During this period, the processing time for the oldest, most complex cases was also reduced by over six months.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for Land Registry staff to work in their offices, and of the effects, if any, of staff working from home on the completion of housing transactions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HM Land Registry operates a hybrid working model under which all staff are expected to spend at least 60% of their time on average working in an office, in line with the guidance published by Cabinet Office.
HM Land Registry’s productivity is continuously assessed by management, looking at a variety of factors. It has continued to improve as the hybrid model has evolved over recent times. The majority of HM Land Registry’s information services, which are the most essential services for the completion of property transactions, are now automated.
HM Land Registry’s current processing times are published on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of flooding in the North West of England in December 2024 and January 2025 on new urban commercial and housing construction.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises the devastating impact that recent flooding has had on the communities affected. The existence of areas of high flood risk is something that local planning authorities should take into account when preparing their plans and assessing the suitability of different locations for development. Our national planning policy is clear that development should be directed to areas with the lowest risk of flooding. Where no alternative sites are available, permission should only be granted where it can be demonstrated that it will be safe for its lifetime taking account of the vulnerability of its users, without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government which councils in England are in special measures as of 8 October, and what is the level of overspending in each such council.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Given the noble Lord’s question on overspending, I have interpreted the use of the term ‘special measures’ to refer to the statutory intervention framework relating to councils’ Best Value Duty and to the operation of the previous Government’s Exceptional Financial Support framework.
As of 8 October 2024, six councils are currently subject to statutory interventions for best value failure, details of which councils can be found on the gov.uk website. Under the previous Government’s Exceptional Financial Support framework, additional support was most recently agreed for nineteen councils in February 2024. Details of the amounts agreed, including for previous years, can be found on the gov.uk website.
Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the Department does not monitor their day-to-day business. For those councils subject to statutory intervention, Commissioners or Improvement Panels appointed by the Government will have a role overseeing delivery of council improvement plans, including in relation to financial management.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government which specific counties are included within the term "the west country of England" when they refer to this region.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
The West Country is not an official region, but could be loosely and approximately defined to match the South West region. The West of England, covers a much smaller area, focussed around the Greater Bristol and Bath city region. The West of England Combined Authority is made up of the following local authority areas: South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, have they made of the cultural and economic welfare of the permanent residents of the Scilly Isles.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is committed to levelling up all parts of our country. We have also recognised the unique circumstances and needs of island communities and their residents, including by establishing the Islands Forum. The Forum is a mechanism for discussing the challenges and opportunities faced by island communities, and for considering how by working together local government and the UK Government (and where relevant the devolved administrations) can support the people of islands across the UK.
The Isles of Scilly has been awarded up to £6 million to fund a museum and cultural centre on St Mary’s. In addition, the final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £6.8 million to the Council of the Isles of Scilly, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £0.5 million or 8% in cash terms on 2023-24. This includes an additional £150,000 in funding in recognition of the unique circumstances facing our island authorities, and their physical separation from the mainland.