Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Boles Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

3. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of his Department’s proposed change to permitted development rights on the number of (a) betting shops and (b) fixed-odds betting terminals on high streets.

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

I think there may be some misunderstanding because there are no current proposals to make any change to permitted development rights in regard to betting shops. We have consulted on a permitted development right to change the use from a shop to a bank or building society, but that would not apply to betting shops.

[Alex Cunningham]

There is no confusion over the fact that there is one fixed odds betting terminal for every 701 adults in my Stockton North constituency, one of the country’s most deprived, and one for every 18,267 people in the affluent Broadland constituency. What will the Minister do specifically on planning rules to stop the betting industry going wherever it likes and targeting areas of high deprivation?

[Nick Boles]

Of course it was the last Government who made it easier to bring in fixed odds betting terminals, and I am sure that is why the hon. Gentleman is so enthusiastic in attacking their record. If he attended the debate on the matter, he will have noted that there are now fewer fixed odds betting terminals than there were when the last Government left office.

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

Does the Minister share my dismay that, despite the concerns expressed by my constituents in Southgate and Palmers Green about the proliferation of betting shops, Enfield council has not as yet applied for an article 4 direction? In the meantime, will he support my constituents drawing up neighbourhood plans to promote the high street, which is the lifeblood of my communities?

[Nick Boles]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I find myself in the curious position of having to hail the work of the London borough of Southwark and of the London borough of Barking and Dagenham in using article 4 powers in exactly the way the Government intended. I can only hope that the London borough of Enfield will follow my hon. Friend’s advice and do the same.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

A friend and constituent of mine, despite being self-excluded from his local Ladbrokes, recently walked into that shop and using his partner’s debit card promptly lost £2,000 on a fixed odds gaming machine. How can the Minister justify, to people like my friend, his policies, which are making it easier for more betting shops to open and harder for gamblers to fight their addiction?

[Nick Boles]

This Government share the concerns the hon. Lady has expressed about the way in which some people can fall prey to these machines. The Government and the Prime Minister made clear that we will look at the evidence, that we are conducting a review with the Responsible Gambling Trust and that we will then come forward with proposals, but I hope she will admit that it was the Government she supported who brought in the relaxation in the first place.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

May I ask my hon. Friend to ensure that this will be a local decision in accordance with article 4, but that we should recognise that betting shops do employ local people and make a contribution to the local economy?

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Betting shops are significant local employers and can make a significant contribution to the local economy, but it is also right that local authorities can look at local conditions and apply an article 4 direction where they feel that local impacts merit it.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The Minister says that the number of such properties has fallen, but the fall is only marginal and the figure is about the same. However, the issue, which he has not addressed, is that turnover and profits have increased dramatically. The precautionary principle was applied at the beginning of this month when the Minister said that splash screens would be put in to control the amount that players play. Is the Government’s policy not a complete shambles?

[Nick Boles]

This is from the party that presented gambling as the chief source of regeneration for inner cities in the north, and that wanted to introduce super-casinos to turn around central Manchester and Liverpool. It is humbug. [Interruption.]

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

The Conservative chair of the Local Government Association said recently:

“High streets across the UK have suffered a cardiac arrest and it is now time to let local authorities step in and deliver the necessary life support.”

Will the Minister tell us how successful his policy of deregulating use classes and taking powers away from local councils and communities has been in regenerating our high streets?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I just say that the noun that appears to have occasioned offence following the last question from the Opposition Back Bench was I think applied to a collective, rather than to any individual? The concerns about disorder expressed by the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) are therefore, on this occasion, misplaced.

[Nick Boles]

I should like to reassure the hon. Member for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) that I would never dare to apply any such epithet to him personally—just to what he said.

Turning to the question raised by the hon. Member for City of Durham (Roberta Blackman-Woods), I find it extraordinary that she wants to talk down the high streets just when the number of empty shops is falling. The fact is that high streets are facing a secular change because of the growth of internet shopping and the change in lifestyles. The way to re-form high streets is not to place restrictions on the way in which people can make use of properties, but to encourage people to come forward with new uses for them that will revive our town centres.

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister’s ship was sailing in the right direction; there was no need to go quite so close to the wind. But there you go.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

4. What requirement is placed on local authorities to ensure that legal agreements within the planning consent for major developments include provision of funding for new schools.

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

I will try to be more prudent with my answer this time. The national planning policy framework is clear that where development generates the need for investment in more school places, plans should be brought up to secure that investment. Of course local authorities will also want to ensure that those plans can be funded.

[Sir Bob Russell]

The Minister might be aware of the lack of funding provision under the section 106 agreement for the new development in the north of Colchester. Will he meet me and representatives of Myland community council and Essex county council to see how we can retrieve the situation?

[Nick Boles]

Of course I would be delighted to meet my recently knighted hon. Friend, along with whomsoever he wants to bring to see me. I must point out that the funding of those investment plans is not strictly a planning matter, but I would be delighted to meet him.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Minister acknowledge that we are in a pretty parlous state, with local authorities having less and less power to influence an integrated, holistic education policy across their communities? At the same time, companies such as Tesco can use bribery—I use the term advisedly—on local communities to get planning permission by giving a little bit of money to a local school.

[Nick Boles]

I have the greatest respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I totally disagree with everything he has just said. Contributions to create community benefit are exactly what we should be trying to get more of, so that it is not just the owners of new developments who benefit but the entire community, whether through new facilities or through a financial contribution to make their lives easier. We should be supporting this, not describing it as bribery.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

But how can we ensure that, when new funding is made available for new schools and other developments, it is not simply provided by the local county council, for example, as the local education authority? How can we ensure that academies and other education providers also have a chance to come forward with sensible proposals?

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I know that the Secretary of State for Education has made it clear that it must be open for a free school to be the promoter of any new school that is set up.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

5. What recent steps his Department has taken to facilitate holocaust survivors in sharing their testimony in communities throughout the UK.

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[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

11. What guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the duty of co-operation arising from the Localism Act 2011 in respect of waste disposal.

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

We issued draft guidance on the duty to co-operate on 28 August and expect to finalise this shortly. The Localism Act has given local councils more power over planning for waste management.

[David Mowat]

I thank the Minister for that answer. He may be aware of the Arpley landfill site, which is located right in the middle of Warrington and causes severe disruption to more than 5,000 residents. All Warrington’s councillors want it closed. Both Warrington’s MPs want it closed. As of next year, no Warrington waste will go to it. Does the Minister agree that it would be a triumph for localism if the current 20-year planning application was rejected and that those local authorities that still use the site found somewhere else to put their rubbish?

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend will understand that I cannot comment on an application that is yet to be determined, but I hope he is aware that, if he thinks that an application raises issues of particular concern and national significance, he can write to the Secretary of State and ask for that application to be recovered for ministerial decision.

[John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to ensure that claimants of housing benefit are able to access accommodation in the private rented sector.

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[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

T4. The Minister will be aware of last week’s article in The Daily Telegraph alleging a major relaxation of planning laws. This has caused some concern in my constituency, where substantial housing growth is already planned. What reassurance can he give my constituents that we will not have some planning free-for-all?

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

The Daily Telegraph is no doubt one of your favourite newspapers, Mr Speaker, as it is of mine, but it is in the business of selling copies, so it sometimes needs to entertain and provoke as well as inform. I can reassure my hon. Friend that we are not proposing any further major planning reforms, but simply a few minor tweaks to the administrative process of discharging planning conditions.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

T5. Under the Bellwin scheme, the Government give emergency financial assistance to local authorities that are hit by natural disasters. In June and July last year, the Government provided 100% of emergency expenditure, but they are providing only 85% for the more recent floods. Will the Minister explain how the damage caused and the costs incurred more recently are different from what they were then?

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

T6. Will my hon. Friend reassure me that planning inspectors will recognise the constraints that are on councils as they draw up their local plans, and that they will get the balance right between holding those councils to account and not subjecting them to undue delay?

[Nick Boles]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. I have been encouraging planning inspectors to recognise that perfection is not something that we mere mortals can ever hope to achieve, and that they should be pragmatic in recognising the way in which national policies can apply to local circumstances.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

T7. On 8 January, I was told by the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis) in a written answer that he does not know“the net change in central Government support to individual local authorities”since May 2010.—[Official Report, 8 January 2014; Vol. 573, c. 257W.] If he does not know by how much he has decided to cut the funding for particular local authorities, how can he possibly assess whether it is beneficial or detrimental?

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[Tessa Munt (Wells) (LD)]

Lack of planning enforcement by local authorities causes disproportionate distress and aggravation to my constituents. Does the Minister agree that councils should have the ability to delay granting planning permission for new applications until all outstanding conditions on previous applications by the same developer have been complied with?

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point and I would be happy to look into the specific case. Perhaps I can generally reassure her that, through the Localism Act 2011, she, I, and the rest of us have improved the enforcement powers of local authorities, and removed the restrictions that the previous Government had placed on the use of temporary stop orders in enforcing against abuse.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

In 2015 Ministers will take on responsibility from the Department for Work and Pensions for hardship funding delivered by local councils. What discussions have taken place with Ministers at the DWP so that the vulnerable are not hit the hardest once again when the change takes effect?