Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is her Department's policy that all planning decisions should adhere to the Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should apply the principle that if significant harm to biodiversity resulting from a development cannot be avoided, adequately mitigated, or, as a last resort, compensated for, then planning permission should be refused.
Any mitigation or compensation would be set out in planning conditions and obligations associated with the relevant planning permission, enabling local planning authorities to monitor the development's implementation and, if necessary, take enforcement action.
More widely, the government is clear that the current approach to discharging environmental obligations is too often delaying and deterring development and placing unnecessary burdens on housebuilders and local authorities. It requires housebuilders to pay for localised and often costly mitigation measures, only to maintain the environmental status quo. By not taking a holistic view across larger geographies, mitigation measures often fail to secure the best outcomes for the environment.
The Nature Restoration Fund provided for by Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will end this sub-optimal arrangement. By facilitating a more strategic approach to the discharge of environmental obligations, in order to address the impact of development and improve the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature, it will streamline the delivery of new homes and infrastructure and result in improved environmental outcomes being delivered more efficiently.
In establishing an alternative to the existing system, the Nature Restoration Fund intentionally provides flexibility to diverge from a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy. We believe this flexibility should apply where, in Natural England's expert judgement, this would be appropriate and in line with the overarching objective of delivering better outcomes for the relevant environmental feature over the course of the EDP - including conservation measures being delivered at a different site to where the development impacts are being felt.
There will be a continued role for the mitigation hierarchy in the design of Environmental Delivery Plans, ensuring that local conservation measures are preferred unless there is a clearly articulated environmental basis to look further afield.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Planning Policy Framework to enable local planning authorities to use the most recent Office for National Statistics household projections in the standard method of calculating local housing need.
Answered by Lee Rowley
A review of the standard method formula was undertaken in 2020. As part of the consultation, we asked if we should incorporate more recent household projections data into the formula. Following careful consideration of the responses received, to provide stability and certainty for local authorities and other stakeholders we decided to retain the existing formula.
We have kept the standard method under review. Through a consultation on changes to national policy held in 2022/23 we committed to review our approach to assessing housing needs once new household projections data, based on the 2021 Census, is released in 2025.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of provisions in the Renters (Reform) Bill on the ability of students to acquire short-term lets for the purposes of their education.
Answered by Jacob Young
Since introducing the Renters (Reform) Bill, we have heard from across the sector that the Bill would interrupt the student housing market, potentially reducing a vital supply of properties. We have listened to these concerns and recognise that further changes are needed.
We have amended the Bill to include a new ground for possession which will allow landlords of HMOs to seek possession ahead of each new academic year, facilitating the yearly cycle of short-term student tenancies. This will mean students can sign up to a property in advance, safe in the knowledge they will have somewhere to live while studying.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Afghan refugees who are in hotels can apply for homelessness with any local authority.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
We recognise the work of local authorities up and down the country in providing housing and integration support to enable Afghan families to begin their new lives in the UK. All Afghan arrivals via the ARAP and ACRS schemes have had the right to work and receive benefits from the first day of their arrival, as well as access to public services which includes housing and homelessness assistance.
Under homelessness legislation, the first local authority approached will need to take a homelessness application and assess what duties are owed. The council can then consider if a local connection referral is appropriate. In cases where there is no local connection, but there is a local connection to a different local authority; they may refer the household back to where they do have a local connection.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reasons his Department plans to introduce voter identification for postal votes before its review into the effect of voter identification on the level of turnout in the 2023 council elections has concluded.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
These regulations are separate to the introduction of a requirement for photographic identification at the polling booth.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people in Canterbury were turned away from the polls because they did not have the required voting identification at the local elections on 4 May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions UIN 183152, 183999 and 183968 on 9, 11 and 16 May 2023
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will conduct an equality impact assessment on the requirement of voter ID following the local elections on 4 May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions UIN 183152, 183999 and 183968 on 9, 11 and 16 May 2023
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to assist non-qualifying leaseholders in selling their properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley
On 20 December 2022, the six largest mortgage lenders released a joint statement confirming that, subject to their normal policy requirements, they will consider mortgage applications on properties in buildings in England of 11 metres or 5 storeys and above with building safety issues. There is no requirement for the building to have been remediated or the lease to be qualifying, providing it is part of a developer or government remediation scheme, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people on the electoral register in Canterbury who will be affected by the requirement to produce voter ID at the May 2023 local elections.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Further to the response to the UQ I gave on the floor of the House on 21 February 2023, the Cabinet Office has published an extensive survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, which includes geographical breakdowns. The results have been published here.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will review legislation on netting on buildings to deter birds.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and developers must consider the impact on local wildlife and take precautionary action to protect habitats, following Natural England guidelines. As set out in a letter from the late former Secretary of State, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, to developers in 2019, bird netting should be kept to a minimum and used only to help protect birds during development.
Anti-bird netting can be appropriate where there is a duty to ensure that pest species are prevented from multiplying and doing damage on public health grounds or to protect a heritage asset for instance. If care is taken to avoid cruelty through accidental trapping of a bird, we support local authorities and others who put up nets or spike arrays where necessary in the public interest.