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 the speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, how much funding will be allocated by her Department to support the recruitment of 300 more planning officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto, we committed to hiring 300 planners over the next five years. We are looking at a variety of options to ensure that these are recruited in a way that best supports housing delivery. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner, including on funding.
The department’s wider Planning Capability and Capacity programme continues to provide the direct support to Local Planning Authorities that is needed now and to develop the recruitment pipeline into the planning profession.
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 the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, for what reason the project at Northstowe was stalled; and whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to that project.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has identified a large number of housing schemes where progress is behind plan.
There are a wide variety of site-specific reasons as to why the schemes in question are either not progressing at the pace required or have stalled entirely.
Through the accelerator taskforce, barriers to development on such schemes will be identified and where appropriate the necessary support will then be provided to accelerate delivery, including funding in some instances.
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 the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, whether additional funding will be provided for the recruitment of 300 planning officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto, we committed to hiring 300 planners over the next five years. We are looking at a variety of options to ensure that these are recruited in a way that best supports housing delivery. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner, including on funding.
The department’s wider Planning Capability and Capacity programme continues to provide the direct support to Local Planning Authorities that is needed now and to develop the recruitment pipeline into the planning profession.
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 the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, how many additional planning officers will be recruited in each local authority.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto, we committed to hiring 300 planners over the next five years. We are looking at a variety of options to ensure that these are recruited in a way that best supports housing delivery. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner, including on funding.
The department’s wider Planning Capability and Capacity programme continues to provide the direct support to Local Planning Authorities that is needed now and to develop the recruitment pipeline into the planning profession.
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 the speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, when local authorities will be given additional funding to recruit planning officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto, we committed to hiring 300 planners over the next five years. We are looking at a variety of options to ensure that these are recruited in a way that best supports housing delivery. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner, including on funding.
The department’s wider Planning Capability and Capacity programme continues to provide the direct support to Local Planning Authorities that is needed now and to develop the recruitment pipeline into the planning profession.
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 the speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2024, how her Department defines stalled housing sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has identified a large number of housing schemes where progress is behind plan.
There are a wide variety of site-specific reasons as to why the schemes in question are either not progressing at the pace required or have stalled entirely.
Through the accelerator taskforce, barriers to development on such schemes will be identified and where appropriate the necessary support will then be provided to accelerate delivery, including funding in some instances.
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 the speech entitled Chancellor Rachel Reeves is taking immediate action to fix the foundations of our economy, published on 8 July 2024, if she will list the vested interests referenced in the planning sytem.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. To achieve it, we need to get Britain building again.
We know the planning system currently acts as a major brake on economic growth and we were clear in our manifesto that we need to change national planning policy to lift it.
The Chancellor’s speech sent a strong signal about the principles that will guide our fresh approach and we will make further announcements in due course.
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 the speech entitled Chancellor Rachel Reeves is taking immediate action to fix the foundations of our economy, published on 8 July 2024, if she will list the items of red tape referred to.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. To achieve it, we need to get Britain building again.
We know the planning system currently acts as a major brake on economic growth and we were clear in our manifesto that we need to change national planning policy to lift it.
The Chancellor’s speech sent a strong signal about the principles that will guide our fresh approach and we will make further announcements in due course.
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 the speech entitled Chancellor Rachel Reeves is taking immediate action to fix the foundations of our economy, published on 8 July 2024, what estimate she has made of how many houses need to be built in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25, (c) 2025-26, (d) 2026-27 and (e) 2027-28 to meet the target of 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto we committed to building 1.5 million homes over the duration of the parliament. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner.
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 the speech entitled Chancellor Rachel Reeves is taking immediate action to fix the foundations of our economy, published on 8 July 2024, what methodology she plans to use to confirm that the target of 1.5 million homes over the next five years has been met.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In our manifesto we committed to building 1.5 million homes over the duration of the parliament. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner.