Oral Answers to Questions

Gary Sambrook Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

Alongside other charities, places of worship are able to apply to the £200 million coronavirus community support fund, which has helped organisations providing essential services for vulnerable people affected by the current crisis.

[Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to ensure that design and beauty are prioritised in the planning system.

[The Minister for Housing (Christopher Pincher)]

With our planning White Paper “Planning for the future”, we are seeking views on proposals to achieve just what my hon. Friend refers to in his question. We are putting the creation of beautiful places at the heart of national planning policy, encouraging greater use of design codes based on what people want to see in their area, supporting local authorities and directing Homes England to help deliver that.

[Gary Sambrook]

Under the White Paper, Bournville, an area that I am lucky enough to part-represent, was used as an example of an area of beauty. George Cadbury in 1893 had his vision of building houses for the area. Today, there are 25,000 people across 8,000 homes in Bournville. Will the Minister please accept an invite from the Bournville Village Trust to come and see the area for himself and the excellent work it is doing to maintain that beautiful community?

[Christopher Pincher]

I am obliged to my hon. Friend for that question and for that invitation to his constituency, being as it is just a hop, skip and a jump from my constituency of Tamworth. George Cadbury certainly had a vision for his community. I look forward to joining my hon. Friend and his friends in Bournville village to realise their modern 21st-century vision for his constituents.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Can I just say that the questions are pretty short and the answers are meant to be pretty short as well? I say to the Secretary of State that I am going to run the whole list of questions.

[Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)]

  The Government are absolutely right in their commitment to building more homes, but we also need to look after the ones that we have. I am especially thinking of those predominately council estates that were built in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, with many homes falling into a state of disrepair. Will the Secretary of State commit to looking at ways in which we can regenerate those estates and build back better?

[Robert Jenrick]

I will. I would like to see further investment in estates regeneration of the kind that my hon. Friend describes, and he will know that my hon. Friend the Chancellor recently announced £2 billion for the green homes grants to improve homes across the country.