HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Debate between Ruth Cadbury and Clive Betts
Mr Betts
I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman: it is absolutely essential that we recognise the shortage of financial resources and the shortage of staff resources, particularly skilled expertise. In past years there has been an exodus of some of the younger, brighter people out of the planning system, often into private consultancies. The Government have promised that they are doing a strategic review of planning resources, including staffing expertise. The Minister said to us yesterday that that was something he was looking to give further information on, I think when the Government respond to the consultation on their proposals. We very much want to see that, because unless we get that right, there is not a chance of bringing any reforms into play and getting the system to work as it should.
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
I add my congratulations to the Chair of the Committee, his members and his team on a comprehensive report into quite a detailed and lengthy White Paper. The Government set great store by their levelling-up agenda and have also committed themselves to net zero. The planning system is central to delivering these and many other key objectives, so does my hon. Friend believe that the White Paper has enough detail on either of those two issues?
Mr Betts
I do not think either is really mentioned in the White Paper, which is something we drew attention to. The lack of any mention of climate change comes back to the lack of any linkage with some of the Government’s environmental proposals. On levelling up, I refer to the fact that the Government changed the housing needs formula midway through our inquiry and moved some requirements to build homes from southern, more rural areas to major cities, many of them in the north and midlands. Many cities will struggle to deal with that without building on their green belts—that is the feedback we are getting, including about problems in London. However, the requirement to build homes for areas outside the major cities in the north will be reduced, which does not quite square up with an ambition to get more development, infrastructure and jobs in the north outside the major cities, and removing that requirement will also mean a lack of support from Homes England to get the building under way. That is a major concern, which we have drawn attention to and needs addressing.
Future of the Planning System in England
Debate between Ruth Cadbury and Clive Betts
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
I add my congratulations to the Chair of the Committee, his members and his team on a comprehensive report into quite a detailed and lengthy White Paper. The Government set great store by their levelling-up agenda and have also committed themselves to net zero. The planning system is central to delivering these and many other key objectives, so does my hon. Friend believe that the White Paper has enough detail on either of those two issues?
Mr Betts
I do not think either is really mentioned in the White Paper, which is something we drew attention to. The lack of any mention of climate change comes back to the lack of any linkage with some of the Government’s environmental proposals. On levelling up, I refer to the fact that the Government changed the housing needs formula midway through our inquiry and moved some requirements to build homes from southern, more rural areas to major cities, many of them in the north and midlands. Many cities will struggle to deal with that without building on their green belts—that is the feedback we are getting, including about problems in London. However, the requirement to build homes for areas outside the major cities in the north will be reduced, which does not quite square up with an ambition to get more development, infrastructure and jobs in the north outside the major cities, and removing that requirement will also mean a lack of support from Homes England to get the building under way. That is a major concern, which we have drawn attention to and needs addressing.
Leasehold Reform
Debate between Ruth Cadbury and Clive Betts
Mr Betts
We took evidence on that. There are caveats and conditions on human rights legislation. If there is a general good to be obtained, that can outweigh the particular interest of private owners of property. The Government have already got around that on enfranchisement. They have asked the Law Commission to recommend a simple enfranchisement that could mean that the freeholder receives less compensation when the leaseholder enfranchises. In that case, the Government are already considering reducing the value of enfranchisement to freeholders. That is no different from a recommendation to reduce the value of ground rents to freeholders in principle. That probably needs further work, but we had advice that it is possible. There will be a requirement for some compensation, but it need not be full-value compensation.
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
I, too, would like to thank the Chair and his Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders), the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) and my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) who have raised this issue consistently in this House, certainly since I have been here.
The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership has been very helpful to leaseholders and to us on the legal issues. I am really pleased that the report says, rightly, that the balance of power is weighted against the leaseholder. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) said that this is the modern equivalent of the racket that followed the dissolution of the monasteries. Does the Chair not agree that this is indeed a modern racket, whereby developers, solicitors and financiers, many of them offshore, are deliberately running a racket and organising conferences to share knowledge on how to rip off leaseholders?
Mr Betts
Yes. I too thank the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership for its work. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Houses are being mis-sold in the first place. Then, when people are in a leasehold situation, they are being charged ridiculous amounts for permission fees for things that should be done anyway without the requirement of the freeholder to say yes. Service charges are put in for services that are often not delivered. Freeholders are making money out of that. We heard examples of freeholders contracting for insurance on the property and taking a percentage contribution out of the money they paid over. Those things are completely wrong. The sooner we can change the system, the better.
Housing and Planning Bill
Debate between Ruth Cadbury and Clive Betts
Mr Betts
If the hon. Gentleman thinks that the process and discussions between an applicant and an officer dealing with that application will have no impact at all on whether permission is given, he is mistaken. Process is important, and how an applicant engages with a planning officer can lead to an eventual decision on the application. Just because a committee may make the final decision and say yes or no, the idea that the process has no role to play in shaping that eventual final decision is fundamentally wrong.
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that speeding up a decision and having another provider might mean that there is far less opportunity for local communities to be consulted and for proper research to take place on local history and conditions? Such things might not be done properly because the new providers are interested in speed and productivity as opposed to quality decisions.
Mr Betts
It is extremely worrying. The second point I was going to make is that we can all have views on occasions when the planning system does not work as well as it should, but nevertheless planning officers in a local authority have some understanding of their community—how it operates, what its needs are, who should be consulted and who should be involved in the process. My experience is that while there may be a minimum requirement for consultation, very often, as an application is considered, extra consultation is undertaken beyond that which is actually required to ensure that the views of communities and different interested parties are taken into account. My worry here is that someone parachuted in from outside, with no knowledge of an area but a track record of dealing with applications quickly, may not be as sensitive to the needs of a local community. If I was a local MP in an area with particular planning pressures and had concerns about getting those decisions right, I would be very worried about the scenario that is developing.
The point has been made that in the end decisions will be left to the planning authority. What does that mean? Many authorities now delegate a lot of less important decisions about schemes that are not major—individual extensions to an individual property, for example—to officers. Will decisions be delegated to an alternative provider, or will the alternative provider have to make a recommendation to a planning officer to take the delegated decision? The proposal is very unclear. What is the situation? If the delegated decision is taken by an alternative provider, the decision is not taken with any local democratic input whatever. Or, if a delegated decision is passed on to a council officer, who pays for the time of that officer? The fee will have all gone to the alternative provider.
Let us come on to the decision that goes to a committee. Who writes the committee report? Will the alternative provider write the report and put the pros and cons of the application for councillors to decide, or will it be a council officer? If it is a council officer, who pays for the council officer’s time? To what extent will there be liaison between the officer and the alternative provider? If it is not the council officer, an alternative provider is going to be appointed by the applicant to write the report for members of the planning committee. Does anyone think this might not affect the decision-making process? Of course it could.