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Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what additional resources the Government is providing to Wealden District Council which is hosting the highest number of Ukrainian arrivals in East Sussex.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

We are working closely with local authorities to identify support needs through multiple channels including Ministerial roundtables attended by local government representatives, official led working group meetings, and ongoing engagement with local authority Chief Executives and senior representatives. The most up to date guidance for local authorities can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councils.

If the Hon Member has specific concerns I am happy to arrange for her to meet with the Minister for Refugees to discuss this further. I understand the Minister for Refugees has plans to visit the Hon Member’s constituency shortly.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Ukrainian refugees (a) have already and (b) are expected to arrive in Wealden constituency.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The most up to date data on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority .


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Ukrainian refugees have arrived in each council district in the South East in the last six months.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The most up to date data on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority .


Written Question
Property Development: Land
Wednesday 20th October 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2021 to Question 49182, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the ability of local authorities to encourage faster build out rates.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The issue of slow build out has been raised in response to the Planning for the Future consultation. There are instances where delays in starting or progressing sites may be avoidable and the Government wants to empower authorities with the tools to respond to such cases. Consequently, we are exploring options to support faster build out as part of the wider package of proposed planning reforms. We are continuing to reflect on the many responses received to last year's White Paper and an announcement on next steps will be made.


Written Question
Property Development: Land
Thursday 23rd September 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will consider providing step-in rights for local authorities to take control of the land to support development in their area.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government is clear that new homes should be built out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted. Where build-out is delayed, it is for councils and developers to work closely together to overcome any barriers.

Local authorities have various compulsory purchase powers they can use to acquire land, including for the delivery of new housing. These are intended as a last resort and there must always be a compelling case in the public interest to justify intervention. Government is keen to encourage local authorities to make more effective use of compulsory purchase powers and we will continue to explore ways of supporting them in doing so.


Written Question
Local Government: Recruitment
Thursday 23rd September 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle potential staffing shortages that local authorities face in the recruitment of (a) senior planning staff and (b) other planning and housing specialists.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

We are considering the responses to the Planning for the Future consultation and will be publishing our response.


Written Question
Infrastructure: Finance
Monday 20th September 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to provide assurance that infrastructure funding supports housing development in places where rigid strategies exist such as the Road Investment Strategy.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

It is important that local authorities plan well for the infrastructure required to support housing development, taking into account Government funding streams such as the Road Investment Strategy and securing appropriate contributions from developers. Developer contributions can be secured through section 106 planning obligations or the Community Infrastructure Levy. The 'Planning for the Future' White Paper' proposes a new 'Infrastructure Levy' to replace the existing system. The consultation on 'Planning for the Future' closed on 29 October 2020 and we will be responding formally.

The Government published its second Road Investment Strategy in October 2019, which allocated grant funding of £27.4 billion from 2020-2025. Other funding streams include NHS England, the Environment Agency, and various schools funding programmes. We recognise there is still a need for further infrastructure funding, which is why the Government committed £4.3 billion from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for 133 projects across England unlocking over 300,000 homes.


Written Question
Housing: Construction
Monday 20th September 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will review the five-year plan to assume that homes will be built within five years to remove incentives for developers to delay development and speculate on land.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies.

The Government wants to see homes built faster and expects house builders to build out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted.

Where build-out is delayed, it is for councils and developers to work closely together to overcome any barriers. To support them, this Government is looking at strengthening the tools available to local authorities to encourage faster build out rates. We are considering the responses to the Planning for the Future consultation and will publish our response.


Written Question
Community Infrastructure Levy
Monday 20th September 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide local councils with the ability to raise a Community Infrastructure Levy within one year of the grant of consent to ensure delivery of homes and infrastructure delivery.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

We have consulted on introducing a new infrastructure levy to replace section 106 planning obligations and the Community Infrastructure Levy. We are currently analysing the 44,000 responses to the 'Planning for the Future' consultation and will be publishing our response.


Written Question
Community Infrastructure Levy
Tuesday 2nd March 2021

Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the community infrastructure levy and infrastructure levy falling due within 12 months of planning permission being granted to help deliver infrastructure with and in advance of housing.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) must be paid within sixty days of works commencing on a development, unless an authority chooses to exercise discretion by setting its own instalment policy allowing payment over a longer term. An authority is also able to make use of temporary flexibilities to defer payments from small or medium enterprises, introduced in response to COVID-19. Overall therefore, CIL payments can, and often will, be payable, and be available to an authority to fund infrastructure, prior to the completion of the development liable to pay.

However, we intend to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy. This new levy would be a flat rate, value-based charge, set nationally, at either a single rate, or at area specific rates, and charged on the final value of a development. We also intend to allow authorities to borrow against revenues from the new levy to better enable them to forward fund infrastructure.

Our proposals were set out in our ‘Planning for the Future’ consultation which closed on 29 October. We are analysing the consultation feedback thoroughly and holding meetings with industry and local authority representatives to understand the effects of our proposals. We will respond formally as soon as possible.