Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Joan Walley Excerpts

Monday 5th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

I welcome the contribution of the right hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert). Unlike in the opening speech from the Secretary of State, the right hon. Gentleman has, I suspect, reflected the genuine concerns of many Government Members about whether the safeguards are sufficient and whether the importance of sustainable development is recognised, as it barely features in the Bill. I very much hope that we will have an opportunity to look at some of the issues raised.

If anyone ever wanted a master class in how to oppose what a Government are doing, they need only look at the contribution of the shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), as he provided exactly that. He absolutely made mincemeat of the hot air we heard from the Secretary of State, and we saw what this Bill is really about.

I rise to speak to the inquiry into “Sustainable development in the national planning policy framework” and draw the House’s attention to the recent Environmental Audit Committee inquiry, which is available to the House this evening. In that report, we examined the extent to which the national planning policy framework reflects sustainable development principles. On the strength of the evidence we received, we collaborated with the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government—I see in his place my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), who I know is going to make an important contribution later—to press the Government, in producing their revised version of the NPPF, to ensure that there is no potential for confusion about the equal importance of all three aspects of sustainable development. It is clear from the interventions so far that this is at the top of Members’ priorities. Sustainable development is not just about the economy; it is about social and environmental considerations, too.

While we recognised the rights of local councils to determine what constitutes sustainable development in their area, we concluded that they need a national planning policy framework that does not push them to regard economic dimensions as predominant. We thus called for a clear definition of sustainable development. Perhaps naively, when the initial flawed proposals were superseded by a much more acceptable NPPF, we welcomed it. Uppermost in our minds—this stemmed from the relevance of the Brundtland report, the further benefits of the 2005 sustainable development strategy of planning policy statement 1 and was in light of preparations for the Rio+20 conference that was taking place at the time—was the need to accept the primacy of environmental limits. Indeed, what we wanted was to see local councils include in their local plans a requirement for some types of development to include environmental gain.

Additionally, and perhaps not surprisingly, as ours is a cross-cutting Committee—a concept which I believe is increasingly no longer cherished, understood or aspired to by the Government—we wanted the final version of the NPPF to be signed off not just by the Department for Communities and Local Government, but by Ministers in other key Departments. They would include the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport—we heard just now about the importance of local transport structures—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Above all, in view of its strategic significance, they would include the Treasury.

Our other key reports, most notably the one on the green economy, reach the same conclusion. We continue to urge the Government to back green growth, rather than locking us into short-term fixes with no regard for future long-term costs and environmental degradation, which is what the Bill will do. After barely six months, we have seen a complete turn-around on the Government’s part. This is a truly irresponsible Bill, which I think reveals the Government in their true colours. Members who sat through the presentation that we have just heard have every right to be concerned. The Bill shows the Government abandoning any claim to be the greenest Government ever, and it undermines their position on the world stage, where the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister seek to take forward the principles of the sustainable development goals at the United Nations negotiations.

[Damian Collins]

I welcome the placing of growth at the heart of legislation such as this. One of my criticisms of the proposals for the sites of the new nuclear power stations that were drawn up by the last Government was that the process involved no consideration of the local economic benefit of building a new power station. In the case of Dungeness in my constituency, that was much to the detriment of the consideration of the benefits of that site.

[Joan Walley]

The point is well made. Investment in power should be for the benefit of the whole community; the aim should not be for the profits to go into the hands of a very few people.

The Government cannot lead by example abroad if they cannot back up their principles with deeds at home. I believe that the Bill condemns a whole generation of people who desperately need jobs and hope for their own future now to a waste land without jobs and homes, and no say whatsoever in local affairs. So much for localism. This way lies a real threat to our parliamentary participatory democracy.

We have a U-turn on localism, a set of incoherent proposals for the financing of investment in new homes, and an NPPF which, in the light of the Bill, we shall be hard-pressed to find fit for purpose. We have a Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government—I am sorry to see that he is no longer present to listen to the argument—who is taking responsibility for the ability of his friends the developers to get their own way, and a fast track to development and the profits that come from that, without any of the responsibilities for the people, the places, the footpaths, the heritage and the environmental protections which his Department ostensibly promotes. That is a very flawed definition of localism.

I assume that Parliament will vote for the Bill tonight. Incredibly, just as we forgo all rights to planning safeguards and local democracy, it seems that the Secretary of State has not already taken enough of the cake. He is just not satisfied. As we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central, the shadow Secretary of State, he is venturing to trump employment rights in the workplace as well. I feel very strongly about that. We need only read the notes issued by his Department to realise how justified he feels it is to prevent people from going to employment tribunals by the back door. He is dressing it up as employee ownership, but in all but a very few cases it will be a smokescreen for depriving people of rights at work. The Government ought at least to be transparent about that.

Let us look at what the Government are doing. They are introducing drastic measures to kick-start a building programme, or so they tell us. As we have heard, it is necessary to look no further than the Local Government Association to see that the Government have got it wrong. We have been told already that

“Approval is in place for 400,000 new homes and councils are green-lighting planning applications at the fastest rate in a decade. The big problem is that developers can’t borrow to build and first-time buyers can’t get mortgages. Taking planning decisions away from local communities and placing them in the hands of an unelected quango isn’t going to fix that.”

That was a quote from Sir Merrick Cockell. The Government should be listening to find out how to address these issues.

I have many concerns about the lack of activity in construction, but the Bill will not deal with them. I am also concerned about the Climate Change Act 2008. As well as centralising the system and undermining local government, the Bill will fail to tackle climate change. I hope that there will be an opportunity in Committee to see whether duties can be placed on the Secretary of State when national policy statements are drawn up to consider climate change, whether section 19 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which deals with the duty on climate change and local plans, can be strengthened to link to the Climate Change Act, and whether an obligation can be created with regard to the survey of plans so that carbon issues are considered. Those are all issues that need to be addressed constructively in Committee and in the other House.

Mention has been made of the concerns of local authorities, as if they were not strapped for cash enough with all that is happening under the comprehensive spending review. How on earth will they be able to carry out their responsibilities? I fear that the Bill paints a picture of a local community where there are few affordable homes. We have seen already how people in London will be forced out of the capital to cheaper homes elsewhere. There is no joined-up consideration by the Government of where we need the social housing.

I believe that the Bill will create a situation in which commons and village greens become something to resist rather than to celebrate, where the community is busy trying to develop ideas for a balanced community through a neighbourhood plan but where those who want to develop in the area can go straight to central Government, and where it may be easier to reduce or block people’s access to the countryside by changes to procedures on rights of way. I have sat through many debates about rights of way, footpaths and stopping up orders and how to get people to keep their local footpaths. This Bill could take all that away.

Our Committee had real misgivings about the NPPF at the time. We did what we could to change it for the better. Now that it is in place, what is needed is stability to allow local authorities time to get their local plans in place and to develop procedures to co-ordinate with one another under the NPPF “duty to operate” on higher-than-local issues, which were previously dealt with in regional spatial strategies. On that, we need look no further than the fact that the DCLG, when it got rid of those strategies, also got rid of the environmental appraisals that were required. There is no joined-up approach to all this. Instead the goalposts are being moved again. The NPPF was sold on the importance of local decision making in planning matters, but the Bill takes control and influence away from local authorities and centralises planning decisions. I believe that it is just plain wrong.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Fallon]

The Secretary of State made it clear, and I repeat it, that we will consult on the definition of a poorly performing council. We will set out the criteria and I hope the hon. Gentleman will respond to that consultation.

Let me be very clear about the contrast that faces the House tonight. The Labour party is defending a record of failure and the status quo of stagnation, whereas this Government and this party want to see growth in all parts of our country. We are determined to open up opportunity for sustainable development, not just in the most efficient local authorities but in every single council area.

[Joan Walley]

Now that the Minister has mentioned sustainable development, would he care to give the House a definition of what he means by it?

[Michael Fallon]

The hon. Lady had a good go at trying to define sustainable development at some length earlier this afternoon. What we mean by sustainable development is development that is there for the long term, and she ought to support that in her authority and in others.

Let me be clear that the Bill promotes more efficient planning, encourages faster roll-out of broadband, will accelerate investment in electricity generation and in modern gas networks, and extends new opportunities for employee ownership. This is a Bill for growth and I commend it to the House.

Question put, That the Bill be now read a Second time.