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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure section 106 funding is being used by councils in Greater Manchester to increase revenue for sports facilities.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that access to high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities. The Framework sets out that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision, which plans should then seek to accommodate.

Local planning authorities can use planning obligations, entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), to help mitigate the impact of a specific development to make it acceptable in planning terms. This could include, for example, requiring a developer to contribute towards the provision of public infrastructure such as sports facilities where this is necessary to make an otherwise unacceptable development acceptable. This will depend on the specifics of the development and is a matter for local decision makers.

The government is clear that developers must deliver on their planning obligations. Section 106 planning obligations are legal agreements, and a local planning authority may take enforcement action in respect of any breach of the obligations contained within them. Enforcement is at the discretion of the local planning authority, and therefore it is for the local planning authority to decide whether enforcement action is appropriate in each case.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.