Tristram Hunt
Main Page: Tristram Hunt (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Mr Pickles
The hon. Lady makes a very reasonable point about these so-called beds in sheds. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Local Government recently had a meeting with a number of local authorities to look into ways in which the problem might be effectively dealt with. The hon. Lady will be pleased to know that there are more than adequate existing powers to deal with it, and as she rightly points out, the issue has been a lack of willpower. One authority—I shall not name it—has, frankly, let this get out of hand in a two-year process, so that the problem is now very difficult indeed to deal with.
Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
Can the Secretary of State update the House on when we will receive version two of the national planning policy framework, so that we in this Chamber can enjoy the massive, copper-bottomed 180° U-turn at the same time as the press?
Mr Pickles
The hon. Gentleman may find himself spinning alone on that—but the answer is very soon.