Nick Boles
Main Page: Nick Boles (Independent - Grantham and Stamford)
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
2. What steps his Department has taken to make the planning system more accessible to local people.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)
For the first time ever, people who are not councillors or planning officers can get involved in drawing up a plan for their community that has full statutory weight. More than 540 communities have been designated as neighbourhood planning areas and a further 210 have applied.
Julian Smith
Constituents in Skipton, the gateway to the Yorkshire dales, continue to be frustrated about the overturning in Bristol of planning decisions have been taken locally in Craven. What advice can the Minister give to my constituents?
Nick Boles
The best defence and the way to guarantee that the local authority representing local people is in the driving seat is for that local authority to get on and complete its local plan. That is sometimes a difficult process, but that is the best thing to do—to get on and complete that local plan.
George Freeman
Does the Minister agree that for far too long under the previous Government planning seemed to be done to communities, rather than by them? Last week I attended and spoke at the public inquiry into the potential development of the Tiffey valley, which South Norfolk district council, with a five-year land supply, is defending. What assurance can my hon. Friend give me that under the Localism Act 2011, which we all supported in this House, councils that have a land supply and are seeking to implement a town plan will receive the Government’s support?
Nick Boles
It is true that we have finally, after a certain amount of effort, managed to scrap the regional strategies that the previous Government used to impose entirely unwanted plans on local communities. The best way to ensure that local decisions will be supported and will stick is for local authorities to have a clear plan which sets out how they will meet their objectively assessed needs. That means that they can pick and choose where and how those needs will be met.
Ann Coffey (Stockport) (Lab)
Planning guidance about a material change of use from a residential house to a children’s home necessitating a planning application is unclear. Last July, in response to my Adjournment debate, the then Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, and now the Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household, the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr Foster), said that he would continue to keep under review the planning guidance in relation to that. Has there been any progress? As the Minister will appreciate, many local people would welcome the opportunity to contribute to a planning application because of the safeguarding issues surrounding children.
Nick Boles
We have no further plans at this point, but I am happy to meet the hon. Lady to explore the issue further, if she would appreciate that.
Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)
In last week’s debate on high streets, my right hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Dame Joan Ruddock) said that on her high street Nos. 14, 37, 38 to 40, 44, 48 to 50, 52, 60, 70, 72, 93 to 95, 175 and 206 are all betting shops, payday loan outlets or pawnbrokers. Does the Minister honestly think this is what local people want? Will he explain to the residents of Deptford and elsewhere why his Government are making it harder, not easier, for communities to stop such premises taking over their high street and town centre?
Nick Boles
Local authorities have a range of powers under planning rules and licensing to restrict the growth of these various uses. However, the hon. Lady must say why the Government whom she supported did more to relax licensing laws to encourage the growth of gambling, and only now in opposition seem to have changed their mind about this business.
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD)
Local authorities whose local plans have been found wanting find themselves under siege from opportunistic developers. The result is planning applications in places such as Evercreech which are the reverse of what local people want. Can the Minister say that emerging local plans will have a material impact on planning decisions, and can he make sure that local authorities resubmitting plans get to the top of the list to stop this happening further?
Nick Boles
The best way to stop this happening is for local authorities to get their plan right the first time, but if revisions have been made, once the plan has been through the public consultation phase, it does not have a huge number of unresolved objections and it has been submitted to an inspector, it certainly can start gathering weight. The precise position is set out in the revised planning guidance that is currently open for consultation.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
Is not the relaxation of planning laws over recent months making matters worse for local communities trying to deal with the growth of payday lenders, bookmakers and unwanted fast food outlets, are not the Government adding to the problem?
Nick Boles
No, that is not the reality, as is almost always the case when the hon. Gentleman asks a question about planning law.
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)
3. What steps he is taking to help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder.
Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)
19. If he will make it his policy that planning authorities ensure that section 106 agreements produce adequate funds to finance the building of schools forming part of the planning approval when granting consents for major residential developments.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)
The national planning policy framework is clear that development should be sustainable, and that local authorities have a responsibility to make plans to provide the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs generated by new development.
Sir Bob Russell
I am most grateful to the Minister; he could not have been more clear. With that in mind, will he agree to meet me and representatives of the Essex education committee so that we can avert a monumental planning blunder? Consent is about to be granted, or could be granted, for 1,600 homes when the section 106 agreement is seriously deficient.
Nick Boles
I know that my hon. Friend has already met the Secretary of State about this issue and has also asked for the application to be called in by the Department. That means that one of us has to be able to decide the issue. I therefore hope that my hon. Friend will understand if I do not take up the offer of a meeting, for fear that no Minister will be left to decide.
Mr Speaker
The hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell) will be pleased to have exhausted the ministerial team.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
The Planning Minister told us earlier that local councils getting their local plans adopted was the best thing for them to do, but is that sufficient to enable them to defend those policies against the increasingly confident threats from developers to overturn them on appeal on the ground of a lack of a five-year housing supply?
Nick Boles
I am happy to reassure my hon. Friend that it certainly is sufficient. One of the decisions that I have most enjoyed taking in this job has been to support the decision of a local authority, which had well in excess of a five-year land supply, to refuse an application for speculative development in an area where it did not want development.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
The National Audit Office has warned that 12% of councils are unlikely to be able to balance their books in the future. Do Ministers agree with that figure and, if not, what is their estimate of the number?
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)
The Leeds core strategy is currently being examined, with the council proposing what it admits is a hugely ambitious target of more than 70,000 houses and with the developers pushing for even more. Such huge targets would see up to 80% of new homes in my constituency being built on greenfield or green-belt sites. What appeal mechanisms exist for my constituents, should the inspector approve such unrealistic targets?
Nick Boles
Local authorities have to assess their housing need objectively. They can sometimes exaggerate or underplay it unrealistically, but any local plan has to go through an intense process of local consultation before it can be adopted. That will give my hon. Friend’s constituents every opportunity to say what they think of those assessments.
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
The Minister will know that the Williams review made it clear that it is possible for firefighters to serve in front-line roles until the age of 60, but only on the basis of a much-reduced level of fitness. Does he agree with that assessment?
Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)
More green belt and green space is under threat in my constituency than ever before, and local people marched in protest yet again at the weekend. Will Ministers tell them why local councillors are being told to pay absolute attention to econometric models and unelected inspectors and not to local people?
Nick Boles
My hon. Friend knows that local authorities have to assess their housing needs and then work out how they are going to meet them. It is for local authorities to decide whether they can protect the green belt while nevertheless releasing some small portion of it to meet that housing need, but only after full consultation with local people.