Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Boles Excerpts

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

10. What progress he has made on implementing the localism agenda in respect of planning policy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)]

I am pleased to say that 65% of local authorities have published local plans, and 200 frontrunners of neighbourhood plans are working hard to bring their plans into effect. We are working to revoke, subject to the environmental reports, the regional strategies that the last Government introduced and that were hated so much.

[Philip Davies]

Local referendum took place in Menston in my constituency. On a 49% turnout, 98% voted against a proposed 300-home development on previously green-belt land. Despite that, Labour and Lib Dem councillors from other parts of the Bradford district came over and voted to impose that development against the wishes of the local community. What is the Minister going to do about that, because until something is done, localism will seem a distant dream to my residents in Menston?

[Nick Boles]

It is fantastic that the people of Menston participate in democracy as vigorously as they do, and I am sure that almost 97% of them voted for my hon. Friend. I urge him to encourage his constituents to explore the possibility of a neighbourhood plan, as such a plan would enable them, rather than people from elsewhere, to determine the future shape of their community.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

My constituents have their doubts about the ability of neighbourhood plans to protect them. In Formby, a developer is talking about building affordable homes at the price of £300,000 on green-belt land in an area that floods. Will the Minister tell me what is in it for my constituents with that kind of proposal for developers, and what on earth happened to localism, because they cannot see any of it in Formby?

[Nick Boles]

What happened to localism is that local plans are coming in at a rate of nearly triple that achieved by the previous Government. We have neighbourhood plans that the previous Government never introduced, but which the hon. Gentleman’s party now claims to support. As a result of those plans, local wishes are being translated into planning policy, where people are willing to take responsibility for their communities.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

The Minister mentioned regional spatial strategies. The West Midlands RSS is proving harder to kill off than the Terminator. Will he please ensure that it appears next on his list for termination?

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are as frustrated as she is by the way the European Court of Justice has put a very large spanner in the works. We are now conducting strategic environmental assessments to get rid of such plans, having created an assessment to bring that in. We have published five environmental reports, and the report for the west midlands will be published very soon. We will look at the results of that report before making a final decision, but our policy to revoke these unwanted, unloved strategies remains firm.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

In the spirit of localism, will the Minister take on board the concerns of the many councils that are against the centrally imposed relaxation of permitted development rights, such as Bromley, whose leader said it would result in an

“uncontrolled planning free for all”

and

“undermine the rights of our residents to voice their views on their surroundings”?

In the light of that, will the Minister allow councils to make their own decisions about whether they want to relax permitted development rights? When can we expect the consultation and why has it been delayed?

[Nick Boles]

Perhaps if the hon. Lady had checked, she would have discovered that the consultation was published an hour ago. Unlike her, I have met the leader of Bromley council. I explained to him that he retains, as do all local authorities, the right to issue an article 4 direction to set aside a particular permitted development where it is not appropriate for the area that they represent. That has always been the case and will remain the case with these permitted development rights, which are very popular across the country.

[Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)]

12. What initiatives his Department has put in place to support access by householders to municipal rubbish and recycling centres.

--- Later in debate ---

[Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

21. What steps he is taking to support the creation of neighbourhood plans.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)]

The Government have committed £50 million until March 2015 to enable local authorities to fulfil their legal duty to support neighbourhood planning. We are also providing direct support to front runners—£3.1 million this year to four organisations supporting neighbourhood plan areas.

[Annette Brooke]

I thank the Minister for his answer. I hear reports of delays in setting up the processes for neighbourhood forums, and I hear that not all planning officers are enthusiastic about neighbourhood plans. What more can the Government do to turn the Localism Act 2011 from a piece of legislation into a real change in culture and practice?

[Nick Boles]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this to my attention. The fact is that the duty to support neighbourhood planning is the law of the land, and we expect all local authorities and all people who work for them to obey the law of the land. If there is any evidence to the contrary, I look forward to receiving it from her.

[Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

22. How many homes for social rent have been (a) built and (b) sold in England since 1997.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

T7. Constituents of mine, especially those in the Harlow Hill area of Harrogate, have contacted me as they are concerned about over-intensive housing development. Please could the Minister outline what protections there are for residents in the national planning policy framework?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)]

The national planning policy framework makes it clear that local authorities should meet the full objectively assessed housing needs for their area, but that they should choose where exactly that development should take place. The local plan must be consulted on, so my hon. Friend’s constituents in Harlow Hill have every opportunity to put forward their views about any development affecting them.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

Going back to the issue of council tax benefit reduction, will the Minister confirm that Birmingham takes the biggest hit in the country—more than £10 million? The transitional grant will not go anywhere near compensating for that, so does he think that the council tax freeze that he trumpets does not apply to the most vulnerable and that their council tax should increase, or that Birmingham city council should squeeze middle-income earners in Birmingham to compensate?

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

T8. Community groups in Galley Common and Whitestone in my constituency are considering forming neighbourhood plans, despite the lack of interest, help or enthusiasm from Labour-controlled Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council. Will the Minister join me in encouraging more communities across my constituency to go ahead to form neighbourhood plans and shape their local area?

[Nick Boles]

I want to do everything to help the people in my hon. Friend’s constituency to adopt a neighbourhood plan, if they can. There is simply no excuse for Labour-controlled Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council resisting or dragging its feet. It is remarkable that Labour’s Front-Bench team claims to support neighbourhood plans but Labour councils just try to get in the way.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

The ferocity of the Chancellor’s cuts to Wirral council now looks clear, with significant job losses on the horizon. If this was our car factory closing, I would be standing here asking the Government to help, but these are the Government’s own cuts, trained on Wirral. So what can the Secretary of State do to help us?

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

T9. Does the Minister share my concern that councillors are sometimes put off from declining planning permission because of the fear of bearing the full cost of an appeal? Does he agree that that is sometimes acting as a barrier to localism?

[Nick Boles]

I reassure my hon. Friend that if councils go through the proper process of forming policies and a local plan under the NPPF, they have nothing to fear from appeals to the Planning Inspectorate, which upholds the decision of local authorities in 65% of cases and can award costs against applicants who conduct themselves unreasonably in launching such appeals.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

In a recent survey, one in four tenants reported that they had been ripped off by letting agents. Do the Government recognise that and, if so, what are they going to do about it?