Planning Reform

Debate between Jessica Toale and Matthew Pennycook

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

I am aware of the case to which the hon. Member refers. There is considerable pressure on the housing infrastructure budget and the projects that remain within it. I am aware that in respect of this case, which he has raised with me previously, a material amendment has been submitted and is being considered. Obviously I will not comment on that, but I think his point shows that the Government do provide significant amounts of funding support for land and infrastructure across the country to help to ensure that those homes can come forward in the right places, with the right infrastructure and transport connections.

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

I recently attended the launch of a development site for 32 new affordable family homes in Bournemouth town centre. That is fantastic, but we need much more of it, because there are still 535 children in temporary accommodation in my constituency, many of them under the age of 10. House prices and rent costs are higher than the national average, whereas wages are not, because the previous Government failed to get a grip on the housing crisis. I welcome this decisive action to build more homes. Will the Minister condemn the last Government’s failure to deal with this crisis and the hundreds of thousands of children we still see in temporary accommodation?

[Matthew Pennycook]

Absolutely, and we are taking concerted action across the Department, not least through the homelessness strategy that was published in recent weeks. At the heart of how we resolve the problem of temporary accommodation is building more affordable homes, particularly more social rented homes. That is precisely why the £39 billion social and affordable homes programme devotes 60% of its funding to social rented homes.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Jessica Toale and Matthew Pennycook

Report stage
Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

I will make some progress.

As Beccy Speight, the chief executive of RSPB, put it at the time:

“With bold leadership, collaboration, and smart planning through initiatives like the Nature Restoration Fund, we can build a future where nature, climate, people and the economy thrive together”.

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

I welcome the enhanced environmental protections in the nature restoration fund. My constituency of Bournemouth West has some unique heathland habitats, many of which are protected as sites of special scientific interest. They hold deep value for the local community, so can the Minister reassure me that these unique habitats will be protected as well under this Bill?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. We must make a distinction between irreplaceable habitats, where the model does not remove the strong protections that exist for them, such as ancient woodland in the national planning policy framework, and habitats where Natural England will be allowed to take a view as to whether conservation measures that apply to them meet the overall improvement test in the Bill, and any intervention in those circumstances will be driven by what is in the environmental best interests of the relevant feature. There are, therefore, protections in place that address my hon. Friend’s concerns.

In recent weeks, there has been a not inconsiderable amount of spurious commentary attempting to convey a false impression of what the nature restoration fund does.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jessica Toale and Matthew Pennycook

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

5. What plans she has to improve security and standards in the social rented sector.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

The Government are taking concerted steps to drive a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of social housing, including introducing Awaab’s law, and consulting on the new decent homes and minimum energy efficiency standards. The majority of social housing tenants already have security of tenure, and our Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish section 21 evictions where those are used by housing associations.

[Jessica Toale]

I have been working with three groups of residents who live in buildings run by the same social housing provider in my constituency. Many residents have come to me having been left living in horrendous conditions, with leaking roofs, damp and mould, and unfinished and unremediated works. Following my intervention, the housing provider has agreed to a multimillion-pound upgrade in one of the buildings, to hire extra staff, and to communicate better with residents. That is great news, but it should not have had to get to this point. What more can be done to ensure that residents such as my constituents are not left waiting years for repairs, and that social housing providers are meeting their obligations?

Building Homes

Debate between Jessica Toale and Matthew Pennycook

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

There are measures in the framework that will help to achieve the objectives that we both seek. The Government are also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions, so that we hold applicants to the promises they make as part of section 106 agreements, while arming councils to better negotiate with them in the first place.

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council submitted its draft local plan for examination in July but, under the new targets, it has planned for only 53% of its housing need. Can my hon. Friend elaborate on the steps the Government will take to work with local authority areas at this stage to make sure they fill that significant gap?

[Matthew Pennycook]

In the formal Government response to the consultation, which will be published at the end of this statement, we set out very clearly how we are dealing with local authorities at an advanced stage of plan preparation—both those that will meet the regulation 19 stage requirement and those that will not —and how we will help those with up-to-date plans to top up their housing supply so that they come closer to the new standard method. I share my hon. Friend’s wish that her local authority takes steps to close the gap.