Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make fire and rescue authorities statutory consultees for planning applications for battery energy storage systems.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5520 on 11 October 2024.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2024 to Question 12061 on Agriculture: Land Use and with reference to the approval of the solar farm development at Honiley Road solar farm by the Minster of State, dated 23 July 2024, what the evidential basis is for the report that that solar farm has delivered 135% Biodiversity Net Increase.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The full reasons for the decision to grant the permission in question are set out in the published decision letter and Inspector’s Report. The Inspector’s Report provides a complete list of the evidence which was before the Inquiry. Having issued this decision, the Secretary of State has no further jurisdiction in the matter, and it would not be appropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of recipients of the single person discount on council tax are (a) women, (b) over 66 and (c) in households with dependents under 18.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has not historically collected data on the individual characteristics of residents of households receiving a single person council tax discount.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the independent report entitled Regulation of Property Agents: working group report, published on 18 July 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that report's findings; and when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on regulating service charges on new build estates.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
As part of a fair and just housing system, the Government is committed to making sure that homeowners and tenants are protected from abuse and poor service. This commitment includes raising professionalism and standards amongst property agents (letting, estate and managing agents), protecting consumers while defending the reputation of good agents from the actions of rogue operatives. We therefore welcome the ongoing work being undertaken by the industry itself to raise professionalism and standards across the sector, including on codes of practice for property agents. The Government is considering the recommendations in the final report on the regulation of property agents from Lord Best’s working group. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice.
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to legislate to ensure that freehold homeowners who pay estate rentcharges have the right to challenge their reasonableness and to go to the tribunal to appoint a manager to manage the provision of services.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that developers (a) sign building repairs safety pledges and (b) commit to remediate fire safety works in buildings over 11 metres.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Further to the answer given in response to Question UIN82386, 49 of the largest developers have signed a pledge to take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical fire-safety defects on buildings 11 metres and over that they had a role in developing or refurbishing, as of 15 November 2022. We have published the names of the developers who have signed the pledge on gov.uk.
We are also in ongoing discussions with several developers who have not yet signed the pledge, and we will invite them to sign the finalised contract. We have made clear that developers that fail to do the right thing face significant consequences. In August 2022, we made commencement regulations that are an important step towards giving Ministers powers to stop developers that fail to do the right thing from commencing developments for which they have planning permission, and from being granted building control sign-off. The Government expects all developers to do the right thing, irrespective of whether they have signed the building safety repairs pledge.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to introduce a time limit on the duration of development once a building's work has commenced.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is clear that developers should build-out permissions as quickly as possible. Where planning permission has been granted for new development, or where sites are stalled or experiencing delays to being delivered, it is for local authorities and developers to work closely together at a local level to overcome any barriers. There are instances where delays in starting or progressing sites may be avoidable and the Government wants to empower authorities with the tools to respond to such cases. Consequently, we are exploring all options to support faster build out as part of the wider package of proposed planning reforms.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will receive grant funding for additional covid-19 related spending required by central Government; and if he will issue guidance to local authorities that normal democratic scrutiny including full council meetings must resume before (a) consideration of emergency budgets and (b) the issue of statutory notices.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We have made £3.2 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, the Government has committed over £27 billion to local areas to support councils and their communities. I am working closely with colleagues across government on a comprehensive plan to ensure councils’ financial sustainability over the financial year ahead and will continue to keep the House informed as these plans develop.
The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 enable all local authority meetings to be held remotely and do not preclude physical meetings or a hybrid form of meeting where these can be held in accordance with public health regulations and guidance. It is for each local authority to determine what is appropriate in their specific circumstances. In giving councils this flexibility, they are expected to hold these meetings in a manner that ensures the decision-making process remains accessible to their residents.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to reinstate the conditions on food supply deliveries which were relaxed on 13 March 2020 due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government made a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 March, setting out the need for flexibility around deliveries to supermarkets and other retailers of food, sanitary and other essential items given the disruption to supply chains due to the impact of the Coronavirus. This statement is being kept under review. Conditions are a matter for local authorities, and should be kept to a minimum, and must meet the tests set out in National Planning Policy Framework of being necessary, relevant to planning and the development, enforceable, precise, and reasonable in all other respects. We are also continuing to engage with supermarkets on the extent to which the relaxation is being used.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities are required to consult with residents of a neighbouring authority when a planning application is submitted relating to land abutting both local areas.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Local planning authorities are legally required to publicise applications for planning permission, prior to deciding the application.
There is nothing to prevent a local planning authority notifying a neighbour resident in an adjoining authority area, where the application site abuts the boundary, and it would be considered good practice to do so.
In some cases, such as for major development, the local planning authority has a statutory duty to either display a site notice or serve a notice on any adjoining owner/occupier informing them of the application, irrespective of the location of any local authority boundary.
Local planning authorities must consider all representations received within the prescribed consultation period.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), what the definition is of a broad location for growth; whether local authorities under the NPPF criteria are permitted to change land previously listed as an allocated site for development to a broad location during the course of an examination in public; and what is his policy on grade II-listed park and gardens within the green belt being protected from broad location for growth.
Answered by Lord Sharma
National planning policy does not define broad locations for growth. This is a matter for local decision and definition through the preparation of plans.
When considering changes during the examination of development plan documents, it would be for the appointed planning inspector, working with the local authority, to determine whether a change is appropriate. Given my quasi-judicial role in the planning process, I cannot comment on specific cases.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out strong protections for the Green Belt. The Framework makes it clear that a local authority may alter the shape of its Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, using the Local Plan process. The Framework does not define these ‘exceptional circumstances’. In the Housing White Paper, Fixing our broken housing market, we proposed that a local authority should be able to alter a Green Belt boundary in exceptional circumstances if it can demonstrate that it has examined all other reasonable options for meeting its identified development needs.
We hope to respond to the consultation in the Housing White Paper in the new year.