Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing in Walsall a pilot scheme to streamline the process of bringing unused brownfield sites back into public use.

Walsall has provided an excellent example of land remediation, involving many partners in enterprise, so that a large derelict and contaminated site can be brought back into employment use. Our revised National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to give substantial weight to the value of re-using suitable brownfield land, and to prioritise its redevelopment wherever possible. The Government has a toolkit of support for this work, including loan funding for site preparation, infrastructure and land assembly; tax relief for land remediation; and Permission in Principle to speed housing-led development at sites on local Registers of brownfield land. Where appropriate, local authorities should seek the interest and support of development partners such as Homes England.

Each brownfield site is different and often requires a tailored solution. It is therefore right that local solutions are also explored to find the best approach to brownfield redevelopment for that area, utilising local and national procedures, planning and practice.