Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish a cross-departmental office for green spaces.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government does not plan to establish a new cross-departmental office for green spaces. Cross-government coordination will continue through the Parks Working Group, which brings together sector expertise with departmental representatives to improve parks and green spaces, with a focus on equality of access.
Improving access to green and blue spaces remains a priority. As part of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, the government has announced that it will bring forward an Access to Nature Green Paper to consult on proposals to improve and expand public access to the outdoors. Furthermore, the MHCLG-owned Green Flag Award sets the national standard for parks and green spaces aiming to meet the needs of the communities they serve.
Local authorities play an important role in improving local green space. The Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding, most of which is unringfenced, over the next three years for local services that communities rely on.
Finally, the Pride in Place strategy will deliver up to £5 billion over ten years to up to 350 deprived neighbourhoods, supporting a wide range of community assets, including community green spaces.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) registered parks, (b) gardens and (c) designed landscapes are currently classed as at risk in each local authority.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Registered parks and gardens in England are designated by Historic England. Data on the number that exist within each local authority area can be found by consulting the online National Heritage List for England. Data on the number of designed landscapes in each local authority that are currently classed as being at risk can be found by consulting Historic England’s online Heritage at Risk Register. Both resources can be filtered by local authority.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the most recent data held by her Department on the number of registered parks and gardens within each local authority area.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Registered parks and gardens in England are designated by Historic England. Data on the number that exist within each local authority area can be found by consulting the online National Heritage List for England. Data on the number of designed landscapes in each local authority that are currently classed as being at risk can be found by consulting Historic England’s online Heritage at Risk Register. Both resources can be filtered by local authority.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of excluding car parks, roads and other forms of hardstanding from the definition of Previously Developed Land under regulation 21 of the Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 on housing viability.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Works on previously developed sites will be charged at the 50% discount rate for the Building Safety Levy. This is because of the higher costs of developing a previously developed/ brownfield site, and the greater risk that these projects become unviable.
As set out in our response to technical consultation, we have implemented a definition of “Previously Developed Sites” in the Building Safety Levy regulations which draws on the definition of “Previously Developed Land” set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Appropriate amendments have been made to reflect that the NPPF definition is primarily designed to inform planning policy whereas the Building Safety Levy definition is used in regulations to apply a tax discount.
We recognise the issues highlighted, and we are considering whether the approach in regulations could be more closely aligned with the NPPF, while maintaining the level of precision required for a taxation system.
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, whether potential housing development on (i) supermarkets with car parks, (ii) edge of town retail parks, (iii) train station car parks and (iv) former industrial sites where more than 25% of each site is made up of hardstanding are brownfield.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December 2024 broadened the definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and made clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas. The definition in question can be found in the NPPF glossary on gov.uk here.
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, whether car parks, roads and other hardstanding in urban areas are brownfield land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December 2024 broadened the definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and made clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas. The definition in question can be found in the NPPF glossary on gov.uk here.
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, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding to improve (a) parks and (b) recreational facilities in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Parks and recreational facilities are an essential part of local social infrastructure. They provide places for social connection, support health and wellbeing and increase community engagement. Responsibility for these spaces lies mainly with local authorities and Government is committed to supporting Local Authorities in helping build stronger, more connected communities.
Local authorities work locally to support adults and children to lead more active lives through access to public leisure services, green space, parks and playground spaces. Their public health budgets are used to deliver local physical activity interventions such as the purchasing of playground equipment. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities and that procurement is up to the discretion of Local authorities rather than the Government
In addition, the MHCLG-owned Green Flag Award sets the national quality standard for parks and green spaces. The scheme aims to meet the needs of the communities they serve and has helped to transform thousands of parks and green spaces across the country. I commend Surrey Heath Borough Council for receiving 5 Green Flag awards to date.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas a) the Department for Culture Media and Sport, b) the Arts Council, c) the National Archives, d) the British Library, e) the British Museum, f) Historic England, g) the Imperial War Museum, h) the National Gallery, i) the Science Museum Group, j) the Victoria and Albert Museum, k) the Wallace Collection, l) the BBC, m) Channel 4, n) Historic Royal Palaces and o) the Royal Parks have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of Farming in Protected Landscapes funded projects on children; and whether she will bring forward policy proposals to fund these projects beyond 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since its launch in 2021, the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme has provided funding for nearly 11,000 farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies to deliver projects that benefit the countryside for climate, nature, people and place. The FiPL programme has engaged over 2,000 schools and delivered more than 8,000 school educational visits helping children to get involved and learn about nature.
The FiPL programme is due to end March 2026, and decisions on the future of the programme will be made as part of departmental business planning.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to amend the Protected Landscapes Duty.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst the Government does not intend to repeal the duty, we acknowledge that decision makers may need support in applying the duty appropriately. The department has already published guidance on the Protected Landscapes duty to ensure public bodies operating in these areas deliver better environmental outcomes working together with Protected Landscape organisations and will consider what further support we can offer to ensure the duty is appropriately applied.