Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Caroline Nokes

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

The right hon. Gentleman was the architect of many of the policies that led to the lowest level of house building since the 1920s. When we rip up the regional spatial strategies, cancel his top-down targets and put local people in charge, we can see the results, not measured over one little quarter that he plucks out of the air but over the entire first year of this new Government. Those results show that there were just 88,500 house building starts in the last year of his Government, and that the number had risen to 103,500 in the first year of this Government. That is a rise of 17%.

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

17. What plans he has to increase the powers of local authorities in dealing with unauthorised development.