Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Lord Moynihan

Committee stage
Thursday 11th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank noble Lords for this debate on an issue that the Government take seriously. Amendments 165 and 179 are in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Addington, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. I am very grateful to them for raising these issues. There is nothing in the Bill that removes the strong protection for playing fields, especially the commitments in the NPPF. Play spaces are vital for supporting the health and well-being of local communities and as such are already considered through existing planning policy and guidance which collectively protect their provision. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that development plans should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision. This includes places for children’s play, both formal and informal, including playing fields. Development plans then use those assessments to determine what provision of recreational space is required for local communities.

In December last year, the Government updated planning policy to make specific reference to safeguarding formal play spaces in the National Planning Policy Framework, enhancing the protection of those spaces where they may be threatened by other development types. The framework is clear that play spaces can be lost only if the facility is no longer of community need or there is a justified alternative somewhere else. Having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework when preparing a local or strategic plan or making a planning decision is a legal requirement.  

 In recognition of the importance of play space provision for communities, we are also considering what more we can say about this important area as we prepare a new set of national planning policies for decision-making, on which we intend to consult this year. Further considerations on play spaces are set out in national design guidance that encourages the provision of such spaces and sets out how they can be integrated into new development.  As an aside, I am not sure whether the noble Baroness and the noble Lord are aware that there is now an APPG on play, which was established by Tom Hayes MP.

The Government are in the process of updating that guidance. A new version is expected to be published later this year and play spaces have been reviewed as part of the update. Play spaces can be funded by developer contribution, secured through Section 106 planning obligations and the community infrastructure levy, the CIL, which play an important role in helping to deliver the infrastructure required to support new development and mitigate its impacts. That is why the Government are committed to strengthening this system.

The Government have established the parks working group, with local authorities and industry specialists, to find solutions to the issues facing parks and green spaces, including improving the number of playgrounds. Our £1.5 billion plan for neighbourhoods will help deliver funding to enable new neighbourhood boards across the country to develop local regeneration plans in conjunction with local authorities. Upgrading play areas is a possible scheme that such funding will be used for, enabling the enhanced provision of public areas of play for many communities.

The Government also believe that the amendments may limit a local authority’s ability to respond to its community’s needs around play spaces by setting an overly rigid framework of assessments and legislative requirements.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, once more, and reiterate my acknowledgment of how important play spaces are for local communities and the role that our planning system plays in enabling and protecting them.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

I am grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive response. Do the Government recognise the role of Sport England in the context of the protection of playing fields as effective and as an important consultee in statutory consultation over the future protection of playing fields? Do they respect the fact that Sport England has done an enormous amount of good work in this context and should continue to have the opportunity to do so?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

The Government have committed to consult on the impact of removing Sport England as a statutory consultee. We will do that shortly and see what the result is, and I suggest that the noble Lord takes part in that consultation as well.

As I have set out, we have robust processes in place to support and protect spaces for play and recreation, and we will consider this issue further as we update our planning policies. These matters are best addressed through our policy and funding. I therefore hope that noble Lords will not press these amendments.

Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Lord Moynihan

Committee stage
Friday 6th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

My Lords, as I have already set out, the Government believe that the Crown Estate, as it currently operates across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, provides the best outcomes for Wales and the wider United Kingdom. I will not repeat the arguments I set out earlier in this debate.

I thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, again for his considered contributions to this debate. The amendment we are debating now—Amendment 5 —would permit the Crown Estate commissioners to exercise specified management and investment functions on behalf of Welsh Ministers.

I remind the House that existing statute provides the Crown Estate with independence and autonomy to set and achieve its goals. The Government believe that the Crown Estate should continue to operate in this way—as a commercial business independent from government—because it has shown itself to be a trusted and successful organisation with a proven track record in effective management. Even if the proposal in this amendment was being suggested for the Crown Estate in its current form, it would be important to ensure that independence was preserved in respect of any functions it took on behalf of Ministers.

More broadly, as I previously set out, the Government will continue to discuss these issues with the First Minister and the Welsh Government to ensure that Wales sees the full benefits of the Crown Estate.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

Before the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, winds up, I completely endorse and agree with his views about co-operation. There is no doubt whatever that it is vital in the relationship between Wales and the United Kingdom in this context.

My arguments have not been principally political at any stage during Committee. My argument is that the lion’s share of the Crown Estate’s assets in Wales requires to be maximised in terms of economic value to Wales, and that there should be the overarching control and involvement of the Crown Estate as is currently set up. I believe that would be the most efficient and efficacious way of maximising the value of those assets in the Celtic Sea, and that was the reason that I pushed this argument so strongly, and not because of future political arrangements. After that project comes to fruition and benefits all concerned, there may well be an opportunity to look at the political realities that have been put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas.

I think that is the reason that the Government have taken the position they have, and I endorse it strongly: it is a cross-party view, but it is one that is driven—from my perspective—on the economic realities of those assets in Wales at this time. We should still make sure there is maximum co-operation between all interested parties, the Crown Estate and the locally interested parties in Wales, so that the projects we have been discussing in the context of this Bill are brought to fruition to the maximum economic benefit of both the United Kingdom as a whole and indeed Wales.