Business of the House

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

We will be investing £5 billion through our new flagship pride in place programme, to support the 244 places that need it most. I am sure that a Backbench Business debate on the subject would be well attended, in which Members could further discuss not just the issue of resources, but the need for communities to be at the heart of decision making.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

May we have a statement from a local government Minister about calculated abuse of the planning system—cases in which people knowingly proceed with projects without planning permission, and then apply for retrospective permission? Cash-strapped councils feel, on the advice of their officers, that they should grant that permission, as otherwise they might have to fight a legal case. Should there not be a presumption against granting retrospective planning permission when the offence has been deliberate?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I invite the right hon. Gentleman to raise the matter in an Adjournment debate, or indeed with the Backbench Business Committee—it has been raised by colleagues from across the Chamber—so that Ministers can not only hear what he says but respond.