Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure accountability for flood risk considerations in the planning process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 81948 on 14 October 2025.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 arrangements between local planning authorities and advisory Lead Local Flood Authorities on decision making in the planning system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) are statutory consultees within the planning system and provide expert advice on surface water drainage for major planning applications, supporting local planning authorities in the decision-making process.
Local planning authorities must take into account comments raised by LLFAs when determining whether to grant planning permission.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect green belt land being reclassified as grey belt.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to preserving Green Belts which have served England's towns and cities well over many decades, not least in terms of checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas and preventing neighbouring towns merging into one another.
However, we know that there are simply not enough sites on brownfield land registers to deliver the volume of homes that the country needs each year, let alone enough that are viable and in the right location.
The government’s new approach to the Green Belt, including prioritising the release of lower quality grey belt land and introducing ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature, is set out in the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December.
On 27 February, Planning Practice Guidance was published to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, and to support a consistent approach to determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here. This new guidance will support authorities in producing Local Plans, while also making sure that planning applications and development on suitable grey belt land can proceed in the short-term in areas without an up-to-date plan.
The government has also provided 133 local planning authorities with £70,000 of pump priming funding each to contribute towards the costs of carrying out Green Belt reviews in their areas.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that undeveloped countryside is not listed as grey belt.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to preserving Green Belts which have served England's towns and cities well over many decades, not least in terms of checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas and preventing neighbouring towns merging into one another.
However, we know that there are simply not enough sites on brownfield land registers to deliver the volume of homes that the country needs each year, let alone enough that are viable and in the right location.
The government’s new approach to the Green Belt, including prioritising the release of lower quality grey belt land and introducing ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature, is set out in the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December.
On 27 February, Planning Practice Guidance was published to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, and to support a consistent approach to determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here. This new guidance will support authorities in producing Local Plans, while also making sure that planning applications and development on suitable grey belt land can proceed in the short-term in areas without an up-to-date plan.
The government has also provided 133 local planning authorities with £70,000 of pump priming funding each to contribute towards the costs of carrying out Green Belt reviews in their areas.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities to (a) impose penalties on developers who fail to complete adoptable highway works within agreed timescales and (b) recover administration and remedial costs through statutory enforcement notices.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.
Where a local planning authority thinks that a condition imposed on a planning permission has not been met, they can serve a breach of condition notice which requires the recipient to remedy the breach within a specified time. There is no appeal against such a notice and failure to comply with it is an offence punishable by an unlimited fine.
An enforcement notice can be served against any breach of planning control – where there is no planning permission for development or the terms of a permission (including a condition) have been breached.
Enforcement is a statutory function for which local planning authorities need to budget. As such, the costs of enforcement activity are not generally recoverable. In some circumstances, authorities can take direct action to remedy a breach of planning control and seek to recover any costs reasonably incurred in doing so from the landowner.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Question 347 to 349 of Foreign Affairs Committee, Oral evidence: Work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, HC 385, 3 November 2025, if he will place (a) a readout and (b) the minutes of the discussions between the Permanent Under-Secretary and the Chinese Government on the proposed Chinese Embassy in London in the Library.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) who will make this decision independently in a quasi-judicial capacity. Consistent with long-standing policy, the Government does not routinely publish details of meetings between officials and external organisations.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which Minister would be responsible for the planning decision regarding the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre following the passage of the Holocaust Memorial Bill.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Arrangements for handling of the planning application for the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre are publicly available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the impact of Sport England’s consultee status on planning applications for playing fields.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
A consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system is underway and can be found on gov.uk here.
The consultation asks for views on the impacts of removing Sport England’s status as a statutory consultee as part of our work to align the statutory consultee system with the development and economic growth objectives set out in our Plan for Change.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of homes in (a) Surrey and (b) England have been built on land classified as grey belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the requested information.
It is for individual local planning authorities to undertake the necessary assessments to identify if land is grey belt, either through plan making or through considering specific applications that come forward.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his proposed timetable is for establishing a West Midlands mayoral development company for east Birmingham.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I understand that the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board has agreed on 17 October 2025, the intention to create Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) in East Birmingham by Autumn 2026. WMCA is planning to carry out public consultation in early 2026 ahead of submitting a formal notification to the Secretary of State to establish the MDC in summer 2026.
Under the Localism Act 2011, Mayors have the powers to designate Mayoral Development Areas (MDAs) and once the Secretary of State receives a notification per section 197(6) of the 2011 Act, he must by order establish an MDC for the area designated by the Mayor.
I look forward to working with the Mayor on this important growth initiative.