Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take steps to review postal voting delays that occurred during the general election 2024.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister kickstarts new devolution revolution to boost local power, published on 16 July 2024, how she plans to assess local growth plans; and over what timeframe such assessments will be made.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has set out its intention to work with Combined Authorities to develop ambitious, long-term Local Growth Plans, setting out how local leaders will put their powers to use to deliver growth in every corner of the country.
Local Growth Plans will be delivered through partnership, and my department will provide further detail on the approach to developing these Plans to local leaders in due course.
Ministers have already spoken with metro Mayors about the possibilities of local growth plans and the benefits they can provide for residents and businesses alike.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for completion of each of the revised National Policy Statements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As the Chancellor set out on 8 July, the Government will review relevant National Policy Statements over the next twelve months, ensuring the planning system is simplified and improved to deliver Government missions around growth and clean energy. This is one of a number of changes the Government intends to make to build the infrastructure that we need.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to recruit additional planning inspectors to support the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime is capable of delivering the UK’s infrastructure needs, including sufficient resourcing in the Planning Inspectorate and government expert bodies to support infrastructure consenting.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the impact of net immigration on housing supply.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Immigration is one of a number of factors that impacts on housing demand and future housing supply. We will continue to monitor both and update Parliament on our commitment to build 1.5m homes over five years.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her Department's policy is on (a) Strategic Environmental Assessments and (b) Environmental Impact Assessments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.
The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need, and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) remove or (b) curtail permitted development rights that were introduced since May 2010; and what her policy is on Article 4 directions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has not announced plans to remove or curtail permitted development rights.
We intend to set out proposed changes to national planning policy in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister kickstarts new devolution revolution to boost local power, published on 16 July 2024, whether there will be penalties for areas that do not sign local growth plans.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has set out its intention to work with Combined Authorities to develop ambitious, long-term Local Growth Plans, setting out how local leaders will put their powers to use to deliver growth in every corner of the country.
Local Growth Plans will be delivered through partnership, and my department will provide further detail on the approach to developing these Plans to local leaders in due course.
Ministers have already spoken with metro Mayors about the possibilities of local growth plans and the benefits they can provide for residents and businesses alike.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled, Deputy Prime Minister kickstarts new devolution revolution to boost local power, published on 16 July 2024, what her expected timetable is for signing off the first local growth plan.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has set out its intention to work with Combined Authorities to develop ambitious, long-term Local Growth Plans, setting out how local leaders will put their powers to use to deliver growth in every corner of the country.
Local Growth Plans will be delivered through partnership, and my department will provide further detail on the approach to developing these Plans to local leaders in due course.
Ministers have already spoken with metro Mayors about the possibilities of local growth plans and the benefits they can provide for residents and businesses alike.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department plans to take to ensure local residents are consulted on any proposed construction on designated grey belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to preserving the greenbelt which has served England’s towns and cities well over many decades.
We intend to move away from a system that allows greenbelt land to regularly be released for development in a haphazard manner and often for speculative development that does not meet housing need.
Without changing its purpose or general extent, Labour will take a more strategic approach to greenbelt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places.
The release of lower quality grey belt land will be prioritised, and we will introduce ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature.
Further details on how grey belt land will be designated and the methods by which it might be released will be provided in due course.