Business of the House

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Anything relating to pensions is extremely important. A pensions Bill will be introduced in the House of Lords fairly soon, so these matters will be discussed on the Floor of the House in due course.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Rugby Gymnastics Club has produced gymnasts who have gone on to compete at national level; and it has 1,000 youngsters attending classes and 300 on a waiting list. It has been operating for decades in an old industrial building that is, frankly, not fit for purpose, but it has an ambitious scheme to develop a new purpose-built gym. At the eleventh hour, it has been told that it has to make a significant financial contribution to biodiversity offsetting. The Government are about to conduct a review of the planning system. In it, will they distinguish between commercial value and development with a social value, such as that of our highly valued gym club?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is brilliantly championing an excellent initiative in his constituency that maintains social value for the people of Rugby. I think the council ought to be referred to the national planning policy framework, which makes it clear that local planning authorities are expected to balance social, economic and environmental considerations in a way that is appropriate to their area. That is already in planning guidelines, and I therefore encourage him to keep on reminding the council of its obligations.