Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of planning reforms on facilitating access to health and social care services in high street and community settings.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The planning system has an important role in making sure communities have access to the infrastructure and services they need - including health and social care.
The planning changes, introduced through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, will enhance this role and help to ensure new development is accompanied by the right infrastructure, delivered at the right time.
The new single, simplified Infrastructure Levy will aim to capture more land value uplift than the current developer contribution regime, ensuring big developers contribute more and allowing local authorities to use the proceeds for providing infrastructure such as GPs, hospitals, and social care facilities. New infrastructure delivery strategies will also make sure the infrastructure delivered is tailored and targeted towards the needs specific to local areas.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions have been had with his ministerial colleagues, if any, to work with the NHS Test and Trace database system.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Government has not provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for MHCLG to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.
MHCLG does not use or access identifiable Test and Trace data and has no current plans to do so. Test and Trace data is sensitive health data shared with local authority public health teams on an exceptional basis to support contact tracing and containment of Covid-19, and to provide relevant support to those required to self-isolate. We continue to work with DHSC, the data-owners, to provide guidance to local authorities on how best to use the data
Ministers and officials from my Department have regular discussions with counterparts in other government departments on a range of matters relating to local government.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to work with the NHS Test and Trace database system.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Government has not provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for MHCLG to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.
MHCLG does not use or access identifiable Test and Trace data and has no current plans to do so. Test and Trace data is sensitive health data shared with local authority public health teams on an exceptional basis to support contact tracing and containment of Covid-19, and to provide relevant support to those required to self-isolate. We continue to work with DHSC, the data-owners, to provide guidance to local authorities on how best to use the data
Ministers and officials from my Department have regular discussions with counterparts in other government departments on a range of matters relating to local government.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for his Department to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Government has not provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for MHCLG to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.
MHCLG does not use or access identifiable Test and Trace data and has no current plans to do so. Test and Trace data is sensitive health data shared with local authority public health teams on an exceptional basis to support contact tracing and containment of Covid-19, and to provide relevant support to those required to self-isolate. We continue to work with DHSC, the data-owners, to provide guidance to local authorities on how best to use the data
Ministers and officials from my Department have regular discussions with counterparts in other government departments on a range of matters relating to local government.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people affected by problem leaseholds; and what steps his Department is taking to inform those so affected.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
In 2015-16, there were 4.2 million leasehold dwellings in England, including 1.4 million houses. While there are examples of leasehold working well, there are also problems including disproportionate costs to extend leases, poor value property management, and a slow and costly sales process.
We will bring forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows, prohibiting new residential long leases from being granted on houses. We will also introduce legislation so that, in the future, ground rents on newly established leases of houses and flats are set at a peppercorn.
The Government intends to consult over the summer on how our plans will be implemented.
On 26 June 2018, the Government published How to Lease: a guide for anyone already living in a leasehold property or anyone thinking of buying one.
The Government wants to ensure there is appropriate support for existing leaseholders. We are working with the ombudsmen and Trading Standards to provide leaseholders with comprehensive information on the various routes to redress.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions he has (a) received representations and (b) had discussions with Greater Manchester Combined Authority on further devolution to Greater Manchester.
Answered by Jake Berry
As the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, I have frequent meetings and discussion with civic and business leaders, local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other key organisations in Greater Manchester and areas across the Northern Powerhouse.
These meetings cover a range of issues relating to boosting local economic growth, including devolution, strengthening local leadership, encouraging stronger private sector growth, and ensuring employers have the right access to skills and talent.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to prevent land banking in local communities.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
It is important that once a planning permission for new homes is in place, work to deliver those homes should begin as soon as possible. The Government wants to see homes built faster and expects house builders to deliver more homes, more quickly and to a high quality standard.
However, it is important to recognise that after planning permission for new homes is granted, a variety of factors can slow down delivery. Rather than focusing on a single issue, the Housing White Paper acknowledged that all parties in the development process need to play their part in speeding up the delivery of much-needed new homes. That is why the Housing White Paper set out a wide ranging approach to driving up build out of planning permissions.
We have already taken important steps to help unblock sites, such as the introduction of the Housing Infrastructure Fund and we are considering how to take forward other elements of the Housing White Paper. In addition, we have recently consulted on what further action could be taken to increase build rates as part of our consultation on calculating local housing need. This consultation closed on 9 November and analysis of the responses is now underway.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of new residential properties have been built on brownfield sites in the North of England in each year since 2015.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The following new residential addresses were created in the former Government Office Regions within the North of England in 2015-16:
Former Government Office Region | Number on previously-developed land | Number on non-previously developed land | Total | % on previously developed land |
North East | 5,268 | 5,155 | 10,423 | 51 |
North West | 15,265 | 11,533 | 26,798 | 57 |
Statistics of new residential addresses created in 2016-17 will be available in January 2018.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many housing targets have been set by (a) Bolton and (b) Wigan local authorities under Objectively Assessed Need plans.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet the objectively assessed housing needs of their area.
Where an authority is unable to meet its need locally, it is expected to work with neighbouring authorities through the duty to co-operate to determine whether the unmet need can be met across the wider area.
Bolton’s current Local Plan, adopted in March 2011, sets an average annual housing target of 694 dwellings per annum. Wigan’s existing Local Plan, adopted in September 2013, has an average annual housing target of 1,000 dwellings per annum.
The Department publishes information on the number of net new dwellings developed in each local authority every year. This may be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing (table 122). This table shows that the number of net additions for Bolton and Wigan for 2015/16 were 510 and 640 respectively.
A table setting out existing Local Plan targets, where known, and their delivery in 2015/16 for authorities in North West England is set out below.
Local authority | 2015/16 Net Additional Dwellings (per annum) | Current Plan Target (per annum) |
Cheshire East | 1570 | 1800 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 1770 | 1100 |
Halton | 540 | 552 |
Warrington | 600 | - |
Allerdale | 380 | 304 |
Barrow in Furness | 90 | - |
Carlisle | 500 | 565 |
Copeland | 130 | 277 |
Eden | 260 | 239 |
South Lakeland | 330 | 400 |
Bolton | 510 | 694 |
Bury | 340 | - |
Manchester | 1760 | 3333 |
Oldham | 260 | 289 |
Rochdale | 310 | 460 |
Salford | 1100 | - |
Stockport | 320 | 495 |
Tameside | 590 | - |
Trafford | 360 | 578 |
Wigan | 640 | 1000 |
Blackburn with Darwen | 100 | 625 |
Blackpool | 250 | 280 |
Burnley | 210 | - |
Chorley | 610 | 417 |
Fylde | 300 | - |
Hyndburn | 100 | 213 |
Lancaster | 480 | 700 |
Pendle | 130 | 298 |
Preston | 480 | 507 |
Ribble Valley | 300 | 280 |
Rossendale | 120 | 247 |
South Ribble | 430 | 417 |
West Lancashire | 300 | 324 |
Wyre | 320 | - |
Knowsley | 290 | 450 |
Liverpool | 2020 | - |
Sefton | -190 | 640 |
St Helens | 580 | 570 |
Wirral | 500 | - |
The Government expects local authorities to review their plans regularly to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. The Mayor of Manchester is currently preparing a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which includes Bolton and Wigan.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of homes have been built in (a) Bolton and (b) Wigan under Objectively Assessed Need plans.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet the objectively assessed housing needs of their area.
Where an authority is unable to meet its need locally, it is expected to work with neighbouring authorities through the duty to co-operate to determine whether the unmet need can be met across the wider area.
Bolton’s current Local Plan, adopted in March 2011, sets an average annual housing target of 694 dwellings per annum. Wigan’s existing Local Plan, adopted in September 2013, has an average annual housing target of 1,000 dwellings per annum.
The Department publishes information on the number of net new dwellings developed in each local authority every year. This may be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing (table 122). This table shows that the number of net additions for Bolton and Wigan for 2015/16 were 510 and 640 respectively.
A table setting out existing Local Plan targets, where known, and their delivery in 2015/16 for authorities in North West England is set out below.
Local authority | 2015/16 Net Additional Dwellings (per annum) | Current Plan Target (per annum) |
Cheshire East | 1570 | 1800 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 1770 | 1100 |
Halton | 540 | 552 |
Warrington | 600 | - |
Allerdale | 380 | 304 |
Barrow in Furness | 90 | - |
Carlisle | 500 | 565 |
Copeland | 130 | 277 |
Eden | 260 | 239 |
South Lakeland | 330 | 400 |
Bolton | 510 | 694 |
Bury | 340 | - |
Manchester | 1760 | 3333 |
Oldham | 260 | 289 |
Rochdale | 310 | 460 |
Salford | 1100 | - |
Stockport | 320 | 495 |
Tameside | 590 | - |
Trafford | 360 | 578 |
Wigan | 640 | 1000 |
Blackburn with Darwen | 100 | 625 |
Blackpool | 250 | 280 |
Burnley | 210 | - |
Chorley | 610 | 417 |
Fylde | 300 | - |
Hyndburn | 100 | 213 |
Lancaster | 480 | 700 |
Pendle | 130 | 298 |
Preston | 480 | 507 |
Ribble Valley | 300 | 280 |
Rossendale | 120 | 247 |
South Ribble | 430 | 417 |
West Lancashire | 300 | 324 |
Wyre | 320 | - |
Knowsley | 290 | 450 |
Liverpool | 2020 | - |
Sefton | -190 | 640 |
St Helens | 580 | 570 |
Wirral | 500 | - |
The Government expects local authorities to review their plans regularly to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. The Mayor of Manchester is currently preparing a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which includes Bolton and Wigan.