Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Pauline Latham
Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)
18. What steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure the use of brownfield land and (b) protect the green belt.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
We are committed to retaining strong protection of the green belt, and its boundaries can be changed only in exceptional circumstances. Brownfield land has an important role in delivering new housing, and we have taken steps to maximise the number of dwellings built on suitable brownfield land.
Pauline Latham
I thank the Minister for that answer. The approach to ensuring that brownfield land is built on and that the green belt is protected is absolutely the right one. What plans have the Government made available to support the remediation of brownfield sites?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend has pushed passionately in her own constituency to ensure that the maximum use for brownfield land is found. Through the Housing and Planning Act 2016, planning permission in principle for brownfield registers is coming through, and there is a £1.2 billion fund for starter homes, which is obviously applicable to the brownfield sites. We have also made more money available in the spending review, which will be put in the public domain later this year, to make sure that we get planning permission for 90% of all the brownfield land by the end of this Parliament.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Pauline Latham(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend is right to say that we want to make sure we are protecting the green belt, and the national planning policy framework does just that. This £2 billion fund will make that brownfield land more attractive, as will planning permission in principle, once the Housing and Planning Bill goes through. This is about making sure we do everything we can to get those brownfield land areas developed for the benefit of our local communities.
Pauline Latham
Celanese is a very large brownfield site in Spondon in my constituency that is not included in Derby City Council’s core strategy, because it says that it will not be ready for development until at least 2028. The company on the site, however, says it will be ready by 2018. Does the Minister agree that local authorities should be doing more to utilise these sites through the funding that the Government have announced is available and increasing their efforts to make things ready for development?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Pauline Latham
Brandon Lewis
With respect, I think the hon. Lady has missed the point. Bicester itself came forward and wanted to develop on garden city principles. When I was there last week, officials showed me around the excellent work that the local authority is doing to release some of the land, including looking at the infrastructure to see how they can make it possible. We are not following a top-down approach. I appreciate that the Labour party wants to have a suit in Whitehall deciding who builds and where, but we believe in localism. Local areas should lead on garden cities. They should come to us with the outlines of what they want to do. I am talking about local decisions, by local people and for local people.
Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)
13. What estimate he has made of the number of small firms and shops in (a) England and (b) Derbyshire local authority area which will have a reduction in business rates in 2015-16.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Pauline Latham
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Gentleman must look at where we start. That is why it is important that all authorities, ranging from £2,800 to £1,600 spending power per household, need to look at what they can do to be efficient, sharing management, services and procurement benefits to ensure that they are giving good service to their residents and spending taxpayers’ money—let us not forget that—well in the first place.
Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)
18. What recent assessment he has made of the financial situation of Derby city council.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
We published the local government finance settlement for 2013-14 in February. Derby city council has an overall spending power figure of £2,021 per dwelling.
Pauline Latham
Does my hon. Friend agree that the decision by Labour-run Derby city council to reduce neighbourhood funding to wards with Conservative councillors is irresponsible and shows that that left-wing Labour council is stirring up a class war for politically motivated reasons? Allestree, Mickleover, Littleover, Oakwood and Chellaston have lost up to 90% of their funding, but Labour wards have received increases of up to 54%.
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. We have devolved power, so it is very much a matter for local authorities how they distribute the money they spend, but I am sure that—with her making such a strong case—residents in Derby will look carefully at what the council has done and take a view on that when it comes to the next elections.