Apprenticeships

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

I am delighted to do that, not least because the employers that my hon. Friend has mentioned demonstrate that apprenticeships are no longer narrowly confined to the traditional industries of construction or engineering. People can be apprentice lawyers, apprentice accountants or apprentice digital creators. Some day, they will probably even be able to be apprentice politicians.

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

The Minister will know that 96% of apprenticeships are delivered at levels 2 and 3. Clearly it is very good that young people and others are getting those qualifications, but is he confident that enough apprenticeship opportunities exist at level 4 and above, to provide clear apprenticeship progression routes for the young people who want them?

Also, I want briefly to point out to the Minister, whom I have some time for, that a lot of us on this side of the Chamber—not least my hon. Friends the Members for Blackpool South (Mr Marsden) and for Hartlepool (Mr Wright), who is now the Chair of the Select Committee—worked very hard under the previous Labour Government to rescue apprenticeships from oblivion. We created some very good quality apprenticeships, which the Minister can now build on, so perhaps it would be better not to make this a party political issue.

[Nick Boles]

Funnily enough, I was an apprentice politician to the hon. Lady when she was the Planning Minister and I was shadowing her. I learned a great deal in the process. She is right to say that there are currently too few higher and degree apprenticeships; we would like to see many more of them. We are making reasonably good progress, however. There were 19,800 starts on higher apprenticeships in 2014-15, which was 115% up on the previous year. Degree apprenticeships are a relatively new concept, but we are making progress and more than 1,000 people have now started such apprenticeships. We have much further to go, and there will always be more level 2 and 3 apprenticeships, but we want everyone who is doing those apprenticeships to be able to look up and see the higher and degree apprenticeships that they could move on to. I am happy to pay tribute to the hon. Lady’s role, and that of the Chairman of the Select Committee and the hon. Member for Blackpool South (Mr Marsden) in reviving the idea and the practice of apprenticeships.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 7th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

We recently published guidance setting out exactly how and when notification should be given of any proposal for fracking. Such notifications will ensure that local people know when there are proposals for fracking in an area so that they will have the opportunity to respond to the consultation.

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

It is no surprise that the Planning Minister is getting grief from his Back Benchers about development being approved on greenfield and green-belt land. According to the Department’s figures, the amount of brownfield land changing to residential use has declined dramatically from 70% under Labour to just 53% under his Government. Does the Minister still stand behind his stated policy of using

“every inch of previously developed land to meet…housing need”,

and if so, what is going wrong?

[Nick Boles]

What is so puzzling about the hon. Lady’s question is that she cannot explain why every attempt that we have made to make it easier to convert existing property—offices, shops and agricultural buildings—into housing has been opposed by the Labour party. Labour Members cannot have it both ways: either they want to maximise the number of houses derived from existing property or they do not; but they cannot preach one thing and do the other.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 3rd March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend. Part 12 of the general permitted development order gives permitted development rights on land belonging to or maintained by local authorities, but there are some restrictions with regard to the scale of such development, so the specific case would not matter. Of course, I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend.

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

Last year, developers proposed 618 construction projects on land the Environment Agency deemed to be at particularly high risk of flooding. Does the Minister still accept the recommendation from the 2009 practice guide to planning policy statement 25 that, for new developments, the best way of reducing flood risk in the area is to control the water at source through sustainable drainage systems? If so, what is he doing to monitor and encourage the use of SUDs in new developments?

[Nick Boles]

The hon. Lady is right that SUDs can offer a very effective way of dealing with flood risk. I am sure she will welcome, as I do, the fact that the latest figures show that the estimated number of dwellings built within areas of high flood risk in England is now at its lowest rate since records began in 1989.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[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?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 21st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 3rd June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We in this House and the people in the town halls cannot entirely predict what will work in the different town centres of the land. The best way to do this is to make it easy for new businesses to set up and pull in the people who will then benefit the existing businesses in our town centres.

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

Given what the Minister has just said, will he explain why he has taken away from local councils and local communities the power to shape their high streets? Who does he think will benefit from the deregulation of use classes?

[Nick Boles]

Labour through the ages—including, indeed, the father of the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn)—famously believed that the Government could run the economy and decide how we should be competitive. Government Members believe that it is business and entrepreneurs who can decide how best to achieve thriving high streets and town centres, which is why we are determined to make life easier for them, as Mary Portas recommended in her review.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods]

I am not sure the Minister answered my question, so I will answer it for him. The people who are likely to benefit are payday loan companies, whose presence on our high streets has already increased by about 20% in the past year. Why does he think that those companies need a further helping hand, rather than our communities who are crying out for the powers to diversify their high streets according to local needs determined by them?

[Nick Boles]

It is classic, is it not? “Determined by them” means determined by public servants and councillors, not by entrepreneurs and the people they want to attract as customers. There is still, as there has always been, an ability to suspend a permitted development that is not right for an area. That is why Barking and Dagenham council is consulting on an article 4 direction, which we welcome. That is exactly the right use of the law, which existed under the Government whom the hon. Lady supported.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 18th March 2013 Commons Chamber

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

Last year while considering the national planning policy framework, the then Planning Minister failed to listen to Labour Members and the many campaign groups who said that, with no assistance, 12 months would not be long enough to get all areas covered by local plans. We now learn that 52% of local authorities do not have a local plan in place. Will the current Minister learn from his predecessor’s mistakes and act now to ensure that those areas unprotected by a new local plan are not inundated with inappropriate development when transitional arrangements end in nine days’ time, or is that part of his scheme to replace planning with chaos?

[Nick Boles]

The hon. Lady would be arguing on stronger ground if she admitted that, under the previous Government, by May 2010 only 17% of local authorities had a local plan adopted, and 32% had one published. Now, 48% of local authorities have plans adopted and 71% have plans published. Progress has been excellent and we will keep the pressure on local authorities to produce those plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 4th February 2013 Commons Chamber

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

Will the Minister tell the House how many additional affordable homes he expects communities to approve for a share of community infrastructure levy receipts? How many affordable homes are likely to be lost as a result of the changes that the Growth and Infrastructure Bill will make to section 106 agreements? Will the Minister produce figures to show the net impact of these totally contradictory policies?

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

The hon. Lady asked three questions, so I will not necessarily answer all of them in full. First, she will be well aware that the measures in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill tackle those affordable housing developments that will never happen in current market conditions. We believe that some homes are better than an unrealistic target of homes that will never come through. Secondly, she will also be aware that, as well as the Bill’s measures, we announced an additional £300 million to support further affordable housing. There is no question but that the combination of those measures will produce a net increase, both in market homes and affordable homes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

I thank my hon. Friend for asking that question, because it is useful to be able to clarify the position for not just Yapton but other communities. It is important for people to understand that the weight given to an emerging neighbourhood plan is in no way contingent on the status of the local plan, and that there is nothing to prevent them from making progress as rapidly as possible.

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

As a result of huge cuts in local authority budgets, councils’ spending on planning has fallen by 16% and the reduction is likely to reach 25% in the next few years. How will the Minister ensure that funds are available for neighbourhood planning in all areas—including those that are disadvantaged—from 2013 onwards, so that the Government’s commitment to localism is not watered down further ?

[Nick Boles]

I am sure the hon. Lady will welcome the fact that the Department is offering local authorities £30,000 for every plan produced in their area. Some £5,000 of that becomes available when a neighbourhood forum is designated, and £25,000 becomes available once a plan has been examined, to pay for the cost of examination and the referendum. There is currently a limit on the number of plans that can receive this funding in any given area, but I hope to be able to adjust that limit to ensure we do not constrain further support for neighbourhood plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[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.

Food Prices (Planning Policy)

Debate between Nick Boles and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Westminster Hall

[Nick Boles]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The Government’s policies are very clear. We need a positive strategy for renewable energy.

However, I assure hon. Members that there is a clear policy on how individual applications should be decided. Policies should be designed to ensure that adverse impacts are addressed satisfactorily, and planning applications for renewable energy should only be approved if the impacts are, or can be made, acceptable. My hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood is an indefatigable campaigner on this issue, and I am very aware that he, I, and many hon. Members on both sides of the House represent people who do not feel that all decisions—particularly about wind farms, but the point also applies to other renewable energy uses—have dealt satisfactorily with those impacts.

Hon. Members will be delighted to hear that the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change recently launched a consultation and a call for evidence on how developers are engaging with local communities, and in particular, on how developers of wind farms and other renewable energy sites are sharing the benefits of those sites with local communities. A lot of lessons from elsewhere in Europe show that sharing the benefits is a good way to secure local consent for developments that are otherwise justifiable.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods]

The Minister was in safer territory when he was praising the previous Government for protecting not only green spaces, but the green belt from development. We all accept that the planning community now thinks that under the present Government brownfield protection has been watered down, not strengthened. He was, however, getting to the heart of what we are discussing. I am not clear that what he is suggesting will help local communities and authorities—faced with a market that is promoting the use of land for renewable energy—to decide on other uses, particularly in relation to more land being given over to food production. How will the Government help local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate make those difficult decisions?

[Nick Boles]

The hon. Lady is quite wrong; I never praised the previous Government for what they did to protect the green belt. They only ended up doing so by completely failing to build any houses and failing to meet the nation’s housing need, thus landing the Government with the difficult task of maintaining protections for the green belt and precious open land, while also increasing the rate of house building. As in so many other areas, we are trying to clear up the mess that Labour created.