Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 publish any correspondence sent to councils on local government restructuring since 16 December 2024.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I wrote immediately after the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December to leaders of all councils in areas where there is a two-tier structure of local government, and to leaders of neighbouring unitary councils. My letter set out further details on the Government's ambitions for local government reorganisation and next steps in the process of moving to simpler structures in all those areas. I will make arrangements for that letter to be published on gov.uk shortly. I will write to this group again by the end of January to invite unitary proposals for their area.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the impact of planning restrictions on the ability of private rented homes to meet the new Energy Performance Certificate C requirement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will shortly consult on implementing a minimum energy efficiency standard of Energy Performance Certificate Band C or equivalent in the private rented sector by 2030. The consultation will be accompanied by an Options Assessment, which will consider impacts arising from the policy proposals.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 an assessment of the potential impact of the policies set out in her Department’s policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees, published on 9 December 2024, on local democracy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government believe that planning committees have an integral role in providing local democratic oversight of planning decisions. It is however vital that in exercising that democratic oversight, planning committees operate as effectively as possible.
The government’s planning reform working paper on planning committees invites views on a range of proposals designed to support better decision making in the planning system. If we determine to take forward any of the proposals in question, each of which would require primary legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, they would be the subject of further detailed consultation in the normal way – in particular where necessary to underpin secondary legislation following passage of the Bill.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees, published on 9 December 2024, which individual would decide whether or not an application was compliant with a Local Plan; and what the process would be in the event of a disagreement on that matter, when deciding whether or not to delegate to planning officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s planning reform working paper on planning committees invites views on three options for a national scheme of delegation. If we determine to take forward any of those options, each of which would require primary legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, they would be the subject of further detailed consultation in the normal way – in particular where necessary to underpin secondary legislation following passage of the Bill.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees, published on 9 December 2024, whether it is her policy that Councillors would have a role in determining a reserved matters application where the outline approval was compliant with the Local Plan but a reserved matter may not be.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s planning reform working paper on planning committees invites views on three options for a national scheme of delegation. If we determine to take forward any of those options, each of which would require primary legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, they would be the subject of further detailed consultation in the normal way – in particular where necessary to underpin secondary legislation following passage of the Bill.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department’s policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees, published on 9 December 2024, what say ward councillors would have on a planning application in their ward; where they disagreed with the decision of the planning officer; and whether they could call-in the matter to a planning committee.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s planning reform working paper on planning committees invites views on three options for a national scheme of delegation. If we determine to take forward any of those options, each of which would require primary legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, they would be the subject of further detailed consultation in the normal way – in particular where necessary to underpin secondary legislation following passage of the Bill.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Thousands of new homes to be built as government unlocks brownfield sites, published on 15 October 2024, how much and what proportion of the £550 million impact investments are funded by (a) direct grants from and (b) financial transactions underwritten by the government.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 16497 on 5 December 2024.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 21 November 2024 on G20 and COP29 Summits, Official Report, columns 371-373 and pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024, to Question 14996, on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, whether the Prime Minister has had discussions with her on the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy between 23 August and 18 October 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The decision to call in the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy was made by the Deputy Prime Minister, in line with current policy on call-in.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to remove the requirement for councillor’s home addresses to be published.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Primary legislation is needed to remove the requirement for local government members’ home addresses to be included in published versions of registers of interests. We intend to legislate at the first available opportunity.
There are also limited circumstances where those local government candidates acting as their own election agent may need to disclose their home address during an election, when they do not provide an office address. We are considering whether to amend this requirement, whilst ensuring that agents continue to provide a correspondence address for enforcement and legal purposes.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her (a) housing and (b) planning policy is on encouraging councils to turn (i) empty and (ii) redundant office space into residential accommodation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including the development of under-utilised land and buildings to meet the need for homes and other uses.
As part of our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the Framework, we set out proposals to broaden the existing definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and make clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas.
On 22 September we published a ‘brownfield passport’ policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.