Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to (a) maintain social housing commitments in existing planning permissions in London and (b) ensure that levels of social housing are not reduced in instances where developments are already approved in London.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Government’s drive to build 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament, the Mayor of London and the government have developed a package of support for housebuilding in the capital. This package includes a new time-limited planning route designed to improve the viability of housing developments in the near term, boosting the number of new homes, including affordable homes delivered in the next few years. Details of the package, including the impacts of the programme, were set out in a policy statement published on 23 October 2025, available on gov.uk here.
As set out in the policy statement, once the new time-limited planning route comes into effect applicants will be expected to seek grant where needed to maintain or increase the level of affordable housing in existing section 106 agreements.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 79909 on 20 October 2025.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Freedom of Information Act response with reference FOI2025/22431, published on 18 September 2025, what estimates his Department made of the revenue from the (a) town and parish council, (b) police, (c) the Greater London Authority and (d) combined authority precept in gross cash terms (i) in the Spending Review 2025 and (ii) in financial planning since the publication of the Spending Review annually from 2024-25 to 2029-29.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Core Spending Power estimates produced at the 2025 Spending Review use the same methodology as the previous government: starting with Council Tax Requirement (CTR) figures from the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement; forecasting growth in the tax base using the average growth in the tax-setting tax base in each local authority over the previous five-year period (also from published CTR figures); and then assuming councils increase their council tax levels by the maximum allowable before triggering a council tax referendum. This is 5% for social care authorities, the greater of 3% or £5 for shire districts, £5 for fire authorities and £14 for the police element of the Greater London Authority.
These estimates do not therefore include the following precepting authorities: town and parish councils; police and crime commissioner authorities; and the non-fire element of mayoral combined authorities, as they are not in scope of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
Further detail on local government Core Spending Power will be published at the upcoming multi year Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) local authorities and (b) schools on promoting careers in the fire and rescue service in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Fire and rescue recruitment in England is managed by individual Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs). Each local service is responsible for its own recruitment processes, policies, and workforce planning, which are typically overseen by their HR or People Services teams.
Surrey Fire and Rescue Service run engagement events across the county, not just in schools but for school-age groups and the wider community. These events combine fire prevention advice with information on careers in the Fire Service, ensuring a joined-up approach.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered reforming the Habitat Regulations in as far as they relate to planning.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is nearing its final stages in Parliament. The Bill establishes a strategic alternative to the Habitats Regulations Assessment in certain circumstances, although the Regulations remain in place. These provisions will accelerate housing and infrastructure development while supporting the recovery of protected sites and species.
The Government is working to improve the functioning of the Habitats Regulations,
including acting on the recommendations of the Corry Review and the recent Post-Implementation Review. We will also publish updated guidance on the Habitats Regulations Assessment process.
We want to ensure that the Habitats Regulations deliver certainty and efficiency for developers, while protecting our most valuable habitats and species.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the number of new trees required as part of planning permissions which are (a) never planted and (b) not maintained for the required period of time.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that appropriate measures are in place to secure the long-term maintenance of newly-planted trees.
The National Design Guide, which supports the Framework, adds that management and maintenance regimes should be considered from the early stages of the design process and documented in a management plan.
A Local Planning Authority can attach conditions to the grant of planning permission. These could be used to secure the implementation and protection of trees within a development. If a development has been carried out without complying with any associated planning conditions, local planning authorities have a range of planning enforcement powers which they can use to tackle alleged breaches of planning control.
Planning authorities can also use planning obligations to restrict or prescribe the use of land, require specific activities to be carried out in relation to a development, and require payment to a local authority. Planning obligations could include requiring a developer to make payments towards the management and maintenance of trees.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of mandating a minimum aftercare period for trees planted as a condition of planning permissions for new homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that appropriate measures are in place to secure the long-term maintenance of newly-planted trees.
The National Design Guide, which supports the Framework, adds that management and maintenance regimes should be considered from the early stages of the design process and documented in a management plan.
A Local Planning Authority can attach conditions to the grant of planning permission. These could be used to secure the implementation and protection of trees within a development. If a development has been carried out without complying with any associated planning conditions, local planning authorities have a range of planning enforcement powers which they can use to tackle alleged breaches of planning control.
Planning authorities can also use planning obligations to restrict or prescribe the use of land, require specific activities to be carried out in relation to a development, and require payment to a local authority. Planning obligations could include requiring a developer to make payments towards the management and maintenance of trees.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will require local authorities to consider the needs of young people as a specific group in their local housing needs assessments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and plan accordingly. These groups should include, but are not limited to, those who require affordable housing, families with children, looked after children, students, and people who rent their homes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to help ensure that new housing developments do not increase sewage network pressures through (a) incorrect and (b) inadequate wastewater connections; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that housing developers are held accountable for improper wastewater connections discovered after property completion.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the importance of water and wastewater provision on new developments.
As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
Sustainable development should be pursued both through the preparation and implementation of local development plans, and the application of policies in the framework.
The government is clear that housing must come with appropriate infrastructure, including appropriate water infrastructure. We believe that strategic issues such as water capacity are best dealt with at a strategic level through the plan-making process, rather than through individual planning applications.
A key function of local development plans is to guide development to the most suitable and sustainable locations and to ensure that the associated infrastructure requirements are addressed. Effective co-operation early in the plan-making process is essential to ensuring not only that housing and infrastructure need is appropriately planned for, but that they are aligned with each other. The NPPF makes it clear that local planning authorities should collaborate with each other and with other public bodies, including infrastructure providers, to identify relevant strategic matters to be addressed, including providing for sustainable water supplies.
Water companies are under a statutory duty to provide new water and sewerage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of water resource management plans, and drainage and wastewater management plans. The water resources planning guideline published by the Environment Agency and Ofwat, sets out how those companies should forecast demand for water based on existing customers and planned levels of household and non-household growth, with the number of planned developments being based on published local plans.
Relevant planning practice guidance sets out that good design and mitigation measures should be secured during development, both through site-specific and non-site-specific policies on water infrastructure. The revised NPPF published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques when the development could have drainage impacts and should have appropriate maintenance arrangements in place. We continue to explore whether more needs to be done to ensure sustainable drainage technologies are taken up more widely in new development, either through planning policy or by commencing schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, and a decision on the best way forward will be made in the coming months.
Ensuring that we take a strategic spatial planning approach to the management of water, including tackling pollution and managing pressures on the water environment at a catchment, regional and national scale, was a core objective of the independent review into the regulatory system of the water sector. The government’s full response to the Independent Water Commission’s recommendations will be published through a White Paper published for consultation this Autumn. This will include responses to recommendations which intend to unlock growth by ensuring water infrastructure investment is aligned with regional and national economic priorities and remove long-standing barriers to development.
There are various routes for property owners to seek compensation predominantly through their new build warranty scheme or where the developer has failed to comply with the Water Industry Act 1991, they can be approached directly for compensation with the property owner having grounds for legal action.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the judgement in C G Fry & Son Limited v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government UKSC/2024/0108 on housing delivery.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Supreme Court judgment in question distinguished between the legal protection provided to European Sites under the Habitats Regulations and the policy protection afforded to Ramsar sites.
The government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of the judgment on general housing delivery.
The case concerned a very limited set of circumstances and no new planning applications that have come forward since the imposition of nutrient neutrality advice in 2020 will be affected by the Supreme Court’s judgement.
While this case has been progressing through the courts, the government has provided significant investment to deliver local mitigation schemes – including in Somerset – to enable development to come forward.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to extend new planning powers and investment flexibilities being provided to the Mayor of London under the Housing Delivery package announced in Written Statement HCWS991 to (a) the Mayor of the West Midlands and (b) other Mayors; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of such powers on Green Belt protection in (i) Aldridge–Brownhills constituency and (ii) in general.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The new planning powers and investment flexibilities in the London Housing Delivery package announced jointly with the Mayor of London on 23 October reflect the importance of the Mayor’s role in housing delivery. Through the Planning and Infrastructure and English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bills, we are giving other Mayors these powers so they can also support housing delivery in their area. Green Belt policy will remain set out nationally in the National Planning Policy Framework.