Sainsbury’s Roadworks (Belgrave, Leicester)

Penny Mordaunt Excerpts

Thursday 6th November 2014 Commons Chamber

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

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) on securing this debate on managing the provision of local infrastructure improvements necessary as a result of new development. He is particularly concerned about the management of new infrastructure in the Belgrave area of Leicester, following the demolition of a flyover and a former Sainsbury’s store, and about the ongoing construction of replacement road infrastructure as part of the mitigation works following the new Sainsbury’s development across town.

More specifically, the right hon. Gentleman’s concerns centre on the disruption and difficulties caused for residents and businesses, not only because of the apparent ongoing delays to those mitigation works, but because of an apparent lack of communication and information from those responsible for the works to those affected by them. Meanwhile, across town, the new Sainsbury’s store has been completed and opened for business.

The right hon. Gentleman calls for a change in the law to require such mitigation works to be completed prior to the completion of new developments that they were intended to mitigate. He will appreciate that I am unable to comment on specific planning cases, but I will briefly set out the situation as I understand it, having done some digging, and give him an outline of the general policy and legislation issues involved, which he asked me to do. At the end, I hope to give him a list of actions that he can take to ensure that his residents and business owners are appeased, which I am sure is the main reason for his securing this debate.

Sainsbury’s, I understand, is contributing several million pounds—the final amount is yet to be determined—towards new road infrastructure and a community regeneration scheme in the Belgrave area of Leicester. This funding is part of the mitigation agreed between Leicester city council and Sainsbury’s following planning permission for relocation of a Sainsbury’s store from Belgrave to Rushey Mead. The actual mitigation works are, I understand, being led by Leicester city council and Sainsbury’s in a partnership. I understand that delays have occurred to the construction of the new road but that this has at least partly been due to design changes agreed after discussions between the council and the community to increase the capacity of the new road by adding more lanes. Works are now scheduled to be completed in March 2015, having originally been programmed for last month. I fully understand the impact on the area of the loss of trade during Diwali and Christmas.

It is obviously vital that such changes and delays are clearly communicated to residents and businesses. Details of any potential compensation claimable, where appropriate, should be made available to those residents and businesses.

I understand that updates on the work have been communicated locally by Sainsbury’s and Leicester city council through a variety of means, including drop-in sessions, bulletins, and the helpline mentioned by the right hon. Gentleman. Clearly, however, that communication has not been adequate to keep people informed about the works, and about where they can have access to assistance and mitigation themselves. Crucially, I also understand that it is widely accepted locally that the works, when completed, will bring positive long-term benefits to the community, enhancing it and contributing to regeneration and growth.

As I have said, the details of measures involving the compensation that is potentially payable as a result of the work should be made clear to residents and businesses as part of Leicester city council’s overall communication strategy. That is good practice, and it clearly happens elsewhere.

[Keith Vaz]

The last time this happened with Sainsbury’s was in Rushey Mead. All that it gave residents there were Sainsbury’s vouchers worth between £5 and, I think, £25. Does the law permit the company to give more in compensation, or permit residents to ask for more?

[Penny Mordaunt]

As I proceed with my speech, the right hon. Gentleman will realise that I do not think that Sainsbury’s is the guilty party in this case. Responsibility for looking after the community and ensuring that compensation is paid—I can list a number of ways in which that can be done—lies with Leicester city council, and I think that the right hon. Gentleman would do best to focus his energy on that. If he looks up reports of Adjournment debates that I initiated as a Back Bencher, he will see that I am not shy about kicking big business when it does not do what it said it would do, but in this instance Sainsbury’s does not appear to have a case to answer.

I hope that what I say this evening will help the right hon. Gentleman to obtain some mitigation for his local businesses and residents. I can confirm that the Valuation Office Agency, which is responsible for business rates assessments, has already received a small number of claims in respect of the works. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will welcome the news that the agency will be speaking to businesses in the area shortly to establish whether rateable values should be reduced for all affected businesses. Local authorities, of course, have the powers given to them by the Government to vary business rates in areas that need particular help, and areas that they wish to regenerate.

There are practical options that the right hon. Gentleman can pursue. He has a reputation for being one of Parliament’s stellar communicators. I think that he should seize the initiative and use his skills to ensure that people have all the information that they need. I hope that I have helped to inform him of some of the routes that will enable them to receive compensation, and about the help that is available with business rates. Let me also direct him to the Great British High Street portal, which is a repository of good practice and ideas. It explains how high streets and town centres have helped to mitigate various problems. He will find not only inspiration but, probably, some contact details relating to people who have been in similar positions. Fundamentally, however, I think that the local authority needs to be a bit more on the ball and a bit more proactive in helping to mitigate the problems affecting its community.

The works at Belgrave are subject to a section 106 agreement between Leicester city council and Sainsbury’s. Section 106 agreements, more commonly known as planning obligations, are individual legal agreements between developers and local authorities. They are used to mitigate the impact of development for the benefit of local communities so that the development can be given planning consent. While subject to negotiation between parties, the obligation placed on the developer should address planning matters that are necessary to make development acceptable. That will often include time scales for completion of the works to be undertaken. In this instance, specific time scales for completion were not built into the agreement, at the council’s discretion. Because of the nature of the scheme and because the council felt that it might change, it did not include an end date for the works. It was perfectly able to do so under existing rules. However, an indicative completion date of October 2014 was agreed, and was, I understand, communicated locally, as was the extension to the works, which will be completed in March of next year.

The use of planning obligations is well established in the legislative framework of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It is a robust tool which allows authorities to obtain the appropriate mitigation for developments, and we do not consider that the changes suggested by the right hon. Gentleman are required. The council could, after all, have put in an end-date.

A blanket requirement to complete all mitigation prior to a new commercial, or other, development being completed would threaten cash flow, which, in many cases, would make development unviable. In some cases, mitigation will undoubtedly be essential beforehand, for safety reasons for example, and that is a matter for the planning process and the section 106 planning obligation.

When planning obligations are delivered successfully, the community gets the benefit of new and improved facilities, such as road improvements, affordable housing, education provision and open space, and the developer gets a balanced development, which serves the community effectively. Where developers breach the terms of a planning obligation, the local authority has powers to take legal action to enforce the obligation. A local authority also has the right to carry out the obligation itself and then recover any expense incurred from the developer in question. Sainsbury’s has done what has been asked of it. The city council already has a range of available options—although the last ones I have mentioned are probably not appropriate—but it certainly has tools at its disposal if it feels action is appropriate.

Planning obligations, and any subsequently agreed modifications to them, must be transparent and be made available to the public. This is a fundamental legal requirement. I am able to confirm that this requirement has been met in the case in question, the documents being available on Leicester city council’s website. However, beyond that simple requirement, it is clearly good practice—particularly when there are major works, such as those about which the right hon. Gentleman is concerned, which affect a large number of people—that those affected by the works are directly kept informed throughout the planning and construction processes. Most authorities have well-established procedures to ensure that this happens, and I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman has had to resort to a freedom of information request to get the information he is seeking, but he is right to pursue that.

The national planning policy framework sets out very clearly the importance that the Government attach to community engagement in the planning process. We want communities to accept new development in order to allow growth, and their ability to see clearly the benefits it can bring is key. This Government have led the way on community involvement and engagement in planning. Neighbourhood planning offers a real opportunity for communities to plan positively for their area—an opportunity that is being grabbed enthusiastically with both hands, as there are now 1,100 neighbourhood plans in production.

We have also led the way on reducing planning delays and encouraging development on site to start. To support local authority capacity to deal with major schemes, the Government have implemented a 15% inflation-related increase in application fees from November 2012 and have continued to fund the advisory team for large applications and the Planning Advisory Service.

There are many other schemes and ways in which the local authority can raise capital to assist with development works, and I would be happy to write to the right hon. Gentleman with that information and let him know about them.

According to my investigation—my officials have investigated this thoroughly—the right hon. Gentleman’s target should be Leicester city council, not Sainsbury’s. My Department stands ready to help mitigate the situation. We should stay in touch on it, and I congratulate him on securing the debate.

Question put and agreed to.