Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 22 July 2020 to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, for what reason it was his policy on the Westferry housing scheme that it was a perfectly fair decision to try and get this done one way or another before the Community Infrastructure Levy charge came in.

It is in the interest of all parties that planning decisions are considered in a timely manner. The Westferry planning application came before Ministers following the failure of Tower Hamlets Council to determine it within their statutory deadline despite a number of opportunities to do so, including at a planning committee meeting which they cancelled owing to ‘a lack of business’, some 8 months after it was first submitted.

As the Secretary of State said before the Committee, Community Infrastructure Levy is a material planning consideration that a decision-maker may take into account in terms of the timing of their decision. Advice on timing is set out in the submission to the Secretary of State included within the published documents on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/westferry-printworks-letters-to-hclg-select-committee.