Local Government Reorganisation

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I respectfully urge the hon. Member to remember that fair funding reforms have aligned funding with deprivation. Under the previous Government, only three out of 10 areas got funding that aligned with levels of deprivation and need. Now it is over nine out of 10—a far better outcome for the entire country. The decision we have taken for Lancashire, including Blackburn with Darwen, is the best option for economic growth and investment in the infrastructure, which will create jobs and put money in the pockets of his constituents.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I have long advocated for Warwickshire to be served by two unitary councils, so I am absolutely delighted that the Secretary of State has listened. It is the model that is rooted in our place-based, problem-solving approach. It makes the most sense for the way people access local services, and it gives my constituents the best opportunities for transport, growth and jobs. My constituents have not been served well by Warwick, so I look forward to working with my hon. Friends the Members for Nuneaton (Jodie Gosling) and for Rugby (John Slinger) to help make our new council the best it can be for all our residents. Will the Minister outline what support the Department will provide to us and our council through the reorganisation process?

[Steve Reed]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and her support for the changes being brought in, which, indeed, she has long advocated for. As a powerful advocate for her area, she will ensure that the changes happen successfully. Up to £1 million is available for each area undergoing reorganisation, to ensure that services transition safely and securely into the new organisations that will be responsible for running them.

Local Government Reorganisation

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Lady for her important and serious point. I have been working very closely with my colleagues in the Department for Education on this issue. A big change process is under way, and I would be happy to speak to the hon. Lady further about it.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s reassurance that an announcement will be made this week. Two proposals have been put forward for reorganisation in Warwickshire; like my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Oliver Ryan), I put on record my support for the two-Warwickshire proposal, because it most accurately reflects how people consider services. Would she say that that the only people who seem to support the one-Warwickshire solution are the Reform administration in Warwickshire, which has failed to improve the situation regarding potholes, buses, SEND or children’s services, and that people in my constituency would therefore really welcome elections taking place in accordance with the schedule?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for her contribution. She will understand that until we have made the announcement, there is little I can say in response to her point, but I will just say that councils deliver very important public services. We are introducing the local outcomes framework so that we can see transparently what councils deliver and what they do not.

Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for his contribution, and the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for bringing forward this debate. His speech reflected his extensive experience in this area, and he relayed to the House some of the success his legislation has already had.

I want to start by saying, in response to the hon. Gentleman’s points at the end about what he is asking the Government to do and his summary of the next steps, that I wholeheartedly agree with him. I hope that anybody listening to this debate who has an interest in this area will understand the very clear cross-party support for this action. We waste far too much time in this place in disagreement, but with such issues, on which there is significant cross-party agreement, I hope everyone understands that we are going to crack on with it, because it is important for all the reasons he has mentioned.

I pay tribute to Crisis and Emmaus for their work, which the hon. Gentleman also mentioned, and for the attention they have brought to this issue. I hope he will see that spirit of prevention running through our homelessness strategy, which we published in December. The best homelessness policies are the ones that stop the trauma before it begins.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 is an important piece of legislation. It was introduced because supported housing can play a vital role, often providing stability and support for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Where delivered well, it offers safe accommodation to help people live with dignity. However, the House has heard worrying examples of where the system has not worked at all as it should: poor-quality accommodation, weak oversight and vulnerable residents badly let down. That is why the 2023 Act matters. It provides the basis for strong oversight, clear standards and better protection.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for giving way. I pay tribute to the work of the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and the organisations he mentioned. I, too, hear stories in my constituency of people who have been evicted from their supported housing when they have gone on to get work. They should be good news stories, but instead those people find it extremely difficult to get accommodation with other landlords. They cannot get a reference from the previous landlord, because they were kicked out for not paying over-inflated rents. It really is high time that this Government, with our values, does something about that appalling situation.

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The trigger points she mentions, which can inadvertently exacerbate homelessness, are exactly the point of the duty to collaborate that we have brought forward in the homelessness strategy. We will be working on the exact point she mentions.

It is important to get the detail right. There is, rightly, broad support for improving standards in supported housing. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the consultation response that the Government published this month. We need to ensure that the framework we put in place is workable, proportionate and fair. Regulation will target poor practice, without creating unnecessary burdens for the many responsible providers who are delivering good-quality support every day. Across the country, there are providers doing excellent work. Housing associations, charities, local organisations and others are operating high-quality supported housing for those who need it most. That is why we will drive out the very poor practice, while supporting and protecting good providers.

The Government are committed not just to the aims of the Act, but to implementing it in a way that works on the ground. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Treasury’s value for money review. That is a very important element of this work. We are wasting taxpayers’ money for very poor outcomes. None of us can tolerate that, so Ministers are working together on that value for money review.

We have established the supported housing advisory panel to bring together expertise from across the sector and inform how the Act is implemented. Just this morning I met the chair, Sir David Pearson. I am confident that under his leadership the panel will provide insight and challenge as a critical friend, as we reform supported housing. I have also asked him to meet parliamentarians to brief them directly.

We have also published guidance to support local authorities in developing their supported housing strategies, which will help them identify and respond to need in their area. Alongside that, we have provided funding to local authorities to support the development of those strategies. That work is now under way in many areas.

This is not the end of that support. Further funding will follow to help authorities move to the next stage, including the set-up of licensing schemes. These are important steps. I have heard very clearly what the hon. Gentleman said on the length of time between the legislation being enacted and its provisions being felt on the ground. I have a lot of sympathy with his point. I am trying to help, and I know that if I do not, and if there is a delay, I will be asked many times about it at this Dispatch Box, so it is in all our interests to get on with it.

The effectiveness of this Act will depend on the regulations, the support standards and the way the powers are used. That means continuing to work carefully through the detail, listening to residents, providers and local authorities, and ensuring that the final framework delivers the improvements that residents badly need. As I have said, we are also making sure that, in raising standards, we preserve the good that already exists and, in fact, shine a light on it.

We do not want to undermine the providers that are already doing the right thing with supported housing; we want to strengthen the system so that people can continue to work with confidence, while poor providers and those who are bringing about these terrible circumstances are no longer able to exploit the system. I think that is the right approach. It is the way to protect residents, improve quality and maintain a supported housing sector that meets the needs of the people who need it most. As part of that approach, we will soon consult on the actual draft regulations.

We are committed to the purpose of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act and recognise its importance and how impactful it will be when its provisions are finally in full force. I thank hon. Members again for their contributions.

Social Cohesion Action Plan

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Rachel Taylor to ask the final question.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

As part of my work on the Women and Equalities Committee, I have heard at first hand from victims of horrific hate crimes, who have been targeted just because of how they looked and who they were. Will the Secretary of State confirm that this Labour Government will finally deliver the funding, resources and a call to action to empower communities like mine in North Warwickshire and Bedworth, to bring people together and to combat those seeking to create division and hatred across this country?

[Steve Reed]

There is much in this report, and I hope that Members will take the opportunity to read it in full, including the definition and the many other proposals. This country is strongest when it is united, and the intention of this report is to bring this country back together in the face of those who have tried to pull our communities apart.

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Programme)

Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)),

That the following provisions shall apply to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 8 January 2025 (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Programme), as varied by the Order of 17 March 2025 (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Programme (No. 2)):

Consideration of Lords Amendments

(1) Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 9.00pm at today’s sitting.

(2) The Lords Amendments shall be considered in the following order: 2, 5, 16, 17, 19, 21, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 102, 105, 106, 1, 3, 4, 6 to 15, 18, 20, 22 to 36, 39, 40, 43, 45 to 101, 103, 104, and 107 to 121.

Subsequent stages

(3) Any further Message from the Lords may be considered forthwith without any Question being put.

(4) Proceedings on the first of any further Messages from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion three hours after their commencement.

(5) Proceedings on any subsequent Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—(Gregor Poynton.)

Question agreed to.

Representation of the People Bill

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Steve Reed)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

There is a lot of interest from Members across the House in this Bill, and that is no surprise, because we are all proud of our British democracy. Our democracy is a fundamental part of who we are as a country. The long history of this House has been punctuated by reforms that have strengthened it. It is precisely because of that evolution of our elections and Parliament that in a world where too many beacons of democracy have dimmed, ours still shines brightly.

As parliamentarians, we are more than caretakers of democracy; we are here to actively advance it and to protect it from threats. When hostile actors at home and abroad seek to sow division, using every means possible to undermine our elections, trying to destabilise the very foundations of our freedom and our democratic institutions, then we must act. That is why we are debating the Representation of the People Bill: to secure our elections against those who threaten them; to protect those who participate; to ensure our democracy remains open and accessible to legitimate voters; and to strengthen and preserve our democracy for the next generation.

At the 2024 general election, Labour’s election manifesto committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. We campaigned on encouraging participation in our democracy, giving 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote and improving voter registration, while fulfilling our pledge to strengthen protections against foreign interference, as well as to introduce rules around donations.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I have come straight to Parliament from Kingsbury school in my constituency, where the year 11 pupils were saying how much they are looking forward to being given the right to vote, so may I thank my right hon. Friend for bringing that forward in the Bill?

[Steve Reed]

I thank my hon. Friend for her support for these measures? They were in the Labour election manifesto on which we both stood, and it is a great pleasure now to start to implement them.

We committed to these measures because we understand that in a democracy, people must be in control of their lives and their own country. However, because we live in a time of growing instability, conflict and change, we can best protect our democracy by making it more robust and more accountable.

Pride in Place

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is completely right. If we get this right, it will be about not only the investment in the next 10 years, but how we create momentum around that and catalyse greater community wealth and, critically, how we invest in our communities for the long term. As a proud Co-operative MP, I think there is a huge opportunity for us to ensure that communities have a genuine stake and that communities are benefiting in the long term from the wealth that is being generated.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

The Conservatives hollowed out our communities and Reform is exploiting it, and yet this Government are helping communities like mine to thrive. We have already had the announcement of our £20 million in the towns fund. We have set up our Believe in Bedworth board, because my residents believe in their town, and the chair of that board has said that he feels energised to have a hand in shaping the future of his home town. We have already had thousands of responses to our survey and are organising a family fun day on 25 October. We would be delighted if the Minister could join us for that. Can she outline how the £1.5 million of impact funding can help to turbocharge the groundbreaking work already being done by Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council to bring empty properties back into use?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I thank my hon. Friend for setting out the huge amounts of work and progress in her community. That is a great example of exactly how this can work really well. There is a huge opportunity with the impact fund to build on that; where neighbourhood boards and governance structures are already established and where people like my hon. Friend have done huge amounts of engagement with the community, we should absolutely be thinking about leveraging in more investment.

Changing Places Toilets

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Francis]

Absolutely, and I thank the hon. Member. As I will come on to say, we have seen such growth, particularly in central London, but that needs to be replicated across the United Kingdom.

Access to a Changing Places toilet allows anyone, regardless of their access needs or disability, to use a toilet with dignity, privacy and hygienically.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that accessible toilets keep people out longer, encourage spending, make towns more inclusive, and are critical for retail, tourism and local growth? When councils close them, disabled people and young families just stay at home. Does he agree that it is short-sighted of the Conservative council in North Warwickshire to fail to fulfil its promise to reopen accessible toilets in Atherstone town centre? We need more Changing Places toilets up and down this country so that everyone, regardless of their ability or who their children are, can make the most of their days out.

[Daniel Francis]

Absolutely, and I thank my hon. Friend for those comments. Again, I will come on to talk about a toilet that was closed in my own constituency and the impact that has. I will try to make some progress for a moment.

Changing Places toilets are specifically designed for people with profound and multiple disabilities and their carers, who need more space and equipment than a standard accessible toilet provides. The features include height-adjustable adult-sized changing benches, ceiling track hoists and space for multiple carers, ensuring a safe and dignified experience.

The Changing Places consortium was established 20 years ago, as I have said, and at the heart of its campaign, which was initiated by the late Loretto Lambe, the founder and chief executive of PAMIS—Promoting a More Inclusive Society—was the aim to ensure the growth of Changing Places across the country. I wish to pay tribute to the work of Changing Places staff and volunteers, led by Jenny Miller and Karen Hoe, and their vital support in ensuring this debate could be brought to the House.

Currently, the total number of active and registered Changing Places toilets is 2,609 spanning the UK and servicing leisure centres, city and town centres, shopping centres, venues, hospitals, transport hubs, stadiums and attractions. Last year, 414 new Changing Places were installed across the UK, the highest number of annual registrations ever.

Black Country Day

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Antonia Bance]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. It is so important that each of our areas is celebrated for what they are—what they are now, what they have been and what they could be—and that we take note of the diversity of each of our areas.

This United Kingdom is made up of places, regions, identities, cities, towns and communities. Each deserves its opportunity—its day in the sun and its things that it is special and unique at. Each place deserves its own local pride. It is so important that we come together today to talk about the Black Country. The key things I want to talk about are about the way that our industrial heritage shapes our future. Some people might talk about their regional identity day and offer the best place to get a pint, the best regional delicacies or the most beautiful vistas.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend may know that I bought my very first house on the edge of the Black Country, within hearing distance of the Baggies’ home ground. I want to celebrate the Black Country’s very own orange chips. The orange chips are said to date back to world war two, but who knows? The best orange chips are always fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside, but they have a very secret ingredient. Would my hon. Friend like to share what that secret ingredient might be? Would she agree that chips on their own are fattening enough, bab, without making them the orange-battered kind we can only get in the Black Country?

[Antonia Bance]

Having recently run a competition for the best orange chips in Tipton and Wednesbury, I have great experience of sampling the double-battered delicacy—oh yes, we are talking about chips that then return to the batter and are deep-fried a second time. It was very hard to choose a winner for the contest; perhaps the Black Country Chippy or The Island House chippy, but I have not sampled them all yet. I will keep going until I have sampled every orange chip in the constituency.

The Black Country was built by working people. We remember the women chainmakers of Cradley Heath and their struggle for decent working conditions and pay. We are proud to commemorate their struggle every year at the chainmakers’ festival, which I was proud to speak at this year. We remember the workers of Tube Town—members of a union that was one of the forerunners of my union, Unite—who, in 1913, went on strike from their work metal forming and creating metal tubes, for decent wages. They were out for weeks on end. Somehow, they kept body and soul together. Somehow, those families prevailed and they won.

We remember those who, through no fault of their own, were caught up in the unsafe conditions of the industrial world in the Black Country of the early 20th century. I think particularly of the Tipton catastrophe, when 19 teenage girls working in an unlicensed munitions factory at Dudley Port, dismantling redundant world war one cartridges, were killed in an explosion. They were teenage girls in unsafe, unlicensed conditions. What happened to them changed the law and brought about some of our modern health and safety culture.

Although the Black Country is a proud and vibrant place, we do not always get our fair shakes. We do not always get what we are due. We are a proud place, we work hard and we want to do our best, but the legacy of deindustrialisation and 14 long years of austerity has meant that the people of the Black Country are less likely to be in work and more likely to be sick. Our children are more likely to live without enough money to live on. Forces bigger than any individual family or person hold us back.

I stand here today talking about Black Country Day and about our area to make the case for the two big changes that we need for the future of the Black Country. The first is a modern industrial strategy. I was proud to hear my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business and Trade set out our modern industrial strategy a few weeks ago in the House. That industrial strategy named our West Midlands combined authority as one of the key locations for all eight of the industrial strategy priority sectors.

We were the only place in the country where all eight of those sectors were named as a priority, and our own Black Country was named as the priority for the clean energy industries. We are beginning to see that come true. In the last couple of months we have seen a £45 million investment from Eku Energy in a battery storage facility in my constituency at Ocker Hill on the site of a former power station. It is a lovely thought that modern, clean energy facilities can take over the space previously occupied by carbon-intensive polluting industries.

--- Later in debate ---

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance) for securing this debate. It is a pleasure to see fellow Black Country colleagues and others in the Chamber, on the last day before summer recess, to acknowledge an important celebration for our constituencies.

As a proud Wulfrunian, I have celebrated many Black Country Days and waved the Black Country flag over the years, but it feels particularly special and meaningful to do so today as the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West. Members across the House will agree that the heritage and culture of the Black Country are central to our communities. I welcome the opportunity to recognise Black Country Day within Parliament to honour our history, to celebrate our present and to look forward to a bright future.

Black Country Day is a fantastic occasion that brings people together from villages, towns and cities across the west midlands. In Wolverhampton, I am particularly proud of our rich heritage and the strong sense of community that shines through during these celebrations. Just over a week ago, I was pleased to attend a street party in my constituency, very close to where I live. I spent time with members of the Penn Residents Association, as well as meeting friends and constituents, and sharing the joy of celebrating the incredible place that we call home.

The Black Country is so called because of the region’s heavy industrialisation during the 19th century. Smoke was emitted from the iron foundries, forges and mines, giving the area a dark, blackened appearance. It is a region that made stuff—where iron and coal shaped the world, and proud and resilient communities were created. Innovation has given the area its fame.

My city of Wolverhampton, with its history of steel production, automotive engineering and lock-making, is known for playing a major role in the industrial revolution. Indeed, my constituency office is in the iconic grade II listed Chubb buildings in Wolverhampton city centre. The Chubb company in Wolverhampton is famous for manufacturing high-quality locks and safes.

Black Country Day is not just about the history of the region; it is about who we are now. We have a warm, diverse culture, and we celebrate our communities, schools, colleges, universities, businesses, musicians, creative artists and sportspeople.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the wonderful and well-known Wolverhampton Wanderers football club, of which I am a proud season ticket holder. Cheering for my side at the Molineux stadium in my constituency has provided much enjoyment not just to my family and me but to the whole community. Wolves is yet another gem that the Black Country has to offer.

[Rachel Taylor]

I applaud my hon. Friend’s love of the Wolves. Does he agree that one of the best football players from the Black Country was Jeff Astle, and that it would not be right for Black Country Day to go by without us commemorating Jeff’s place in the world of football?

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Paul Holmes]

I will briefly, but he will let me finish this point. The proposals have been put forward by all parties to ensure that the legislation is better and more efficient, but fundamentally serves the people who send us here and who want to see differences in the way in which their country is run. We argue that this legislation does not do that, we argue that this is a massive centralising overreach advocated by the Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, and we stand fundamentally against it.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

rose—

[Paul Holmes]

I will give way to the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) first because he is a sparring partner from the Public Bill Committee—I hope he does not have another quote—and then I will give way to the hon. Lady.

--- Later in debate ---

Now, for the first time in history, there is no incentivisation in our housing system for first-time buyers, because measures including the stamp duty relief and some of our Help to Buy measures were scrapped by this Government. This is the first time that we have had that situation. We could have done more, but I am very proud of the last Government’s record on housing. The Minister and the Government need to look at our record on first-time buyers and private buyers, because if they emulated some of our incentivisation methods, we would have a better success rate than the just over half of those 1.5 million homes that independent experts are now claiming they will be able to deliver.

[Rachel Taylor]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the entertainment he provided throughout the Bill Committee’s proceedings, and for his generosity in the Tea Room. Talking about reflection, however, would he agree that when one looks in the mirror, one does not always like what one sees? The Minister has reflected on many of the proposals that were brought forward in Committee and he has clearly decided that those things would be better left in the national planning policy framework, as opposed to being in this legislation. Would the hon. Gentleman also agree that we do not have more young people buying and owning their own homes now than we did in 2010, and that the reason for that is—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. The hon. Lady will have the opportunity to contribute later. Interventions really do need to be shorter than this.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourteenth sitting)

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 22nd May 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Ellie Chowns]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once more, Mrs Hobhouse. I rise to speak in strong support of a group of new clauses that address a clear and growing risk to public health, quality of life and economic productivity: domestic overheating. It may surprise some—hopefully no one in this room—to know that the risk of overheating in homes is now one of the most severe climate-related threats in the UK. The Climate Change Committee’s independent climate risk assessment identifies overheating in homes as one of the most severe climate risks, requiring urgent action. Over half of UK homes are already at risk of overheating, and that is projected to increase to 90% homes under a 2°C global warming scenario, which unfortunately is a possibility.

This is not some distant hypothetical; the Met Office recorded the UK’s first ever 40°C day in 2022. Already around 2,000 deaths per year in England are attributed to heat waves, a number that is projected to more than triple by the 2050s under even a medium-emissions scenario. This is not just a health issue but an economic one. Evidence shows that overheating in buildings could cost the UK economy £60 billion a year—the equivalent of 1.5% to 2% of GDP—through lost productivity. That is on top of the economic costs of heat-related mortality, estimated to already be £6.4 billion per year in England, which is likely to increase to £14.7 billion per year by the 2050s. These are huge figures.

As highlighted by the Climate Change Committee,

“early adaptation investments deliver high value for money”,

with every £1 invested in adaptation delivering £10 in net economic benefits. That is a huge rate of return and a huge benefit-cost ratio. As heard by the Environmental Audit Committee, passive measures supported through planning, such as installing external shutters, can reduce incidence of heat mortality by around 40%.

Given the urgency, I draw the Committee’s attention to a regrettable decision made more than a decade ago. In 2012, the coalition Government removed references to “overheating” from the national planning policy framework. This left a significant gap in our planning system’s ability to deal with overheating risks—one that has not been adequately addressed since. That is precisely why we need the new clauses. There are five in the group, each of which deals with a particular element that needs addressing, and I will go through them now.

New clause 77 would empower local authorities to impose conditions on planning permissions where there is demonstrable overheating risk, such as single-aspect flatted developments with no cross-ventilation. It is a targeted, proportionate provision that would allow planning authorities to respond to local climatic data with appropriate preventive conditions, and it would undo the short-sighted change introduced by the previous Government.

New clause 78 would introduce statutory guidance on the cooling hierarchy, an approach that is already familiar in London planning policy. The hierarchy prioritises passive design strategies, such as shading and ventilation, before resorting to energy-intensive cooling. This aligns with our net zero goals and ensures resilience, without placing undue burden on developers and the grid. Why would we not ensure that our buildings can effectively cool themselves before going to measures such as installing air conditioning?

New clause 79 would address a significant gap by requiring all full planning applications for residential developments to include an overheating risk assessment, using the established TM59 standard, or its successor, from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. At present, many new homes are being designed with large, south-facing windows, poor ventilation and inadequate shading. Building regulations alone do not capture this risk at the early design stage, so the planning system must intervene. Overheating is a planning issue, not just a building regulations issue. Building regulations govern how buildings are constructed; planning dictates what gets built and where.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

It is a long-standing norm that building regulations deal not just with the construction of buildings but their thermal efficiency and performance. That is why energy performance certificates were introduced, and there are regulations on windows, glazing and glass roofs all found within the building regulations. Surely these provisions on overheating need to go hand in hand with those provisions on thermal efficiency in housing, and therefore sit far better within building regulations than in this Bill.

[Ellie Chowns]

I do not at all dispute that there is potential to go further and faster within the framework of building regulations to address the risks that I am outlining. However, there is also potential within the planning framework to do it, which is exactly the point that I have made. The removal of “overheating” from the planning framework in 2022 meant that things have got worse. We have an opportunity in the Bill to ensure that we tackle overheating through the planning framework, as well as the building regulations framework. It really is not an either/or. There is scope and need within both those frameworks to address the risks that I am outlining.

New clause 80 would ensure that local plans must consider passive design in residential development, from cross-ventilation to thermal mass. These are well-established strategies that can drastically reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events without energy use.

Finally, new clause 81 would ensure that local authorities have access to up-to-date, localised overheating risk data. Evidence-based planning is possible only when planners are equipped with timely, spatially accurate information. Datasets such as these have already been pioneered in places like Bristol, with its Keep Bristol Cool map and local plan policies. Likewise, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has been developing national data on overheating, and that could form the basis of rolling out such support nationally.

We really must not miss this opportunity. Climate adaptation cannot be an afterthought; it needs to be embedded in our planning framework and how we plan our communities, protect our citizens and shape the homes of tomorrow. These five new clauses offer a clear, practical and urgently needed framework to ensure that our planning system is fit for a warmer world. I urge the Committee to support them.