Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take to improve local consultation on nationally significant infrastructure projects.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Effective consultation with local communities on nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) is essential to ensuring that projects are delivered in the right way. That is why on 30 April we updated our guidance on public consultation during the pre-application stage for NSIPs.
This new guidance outlines the expectations examining inspectors will have that effective engagement will support better quality applications. Applicants will now be required to include a clear programme of engagement which reflects the complexity and scale of the project proposed.
The guidance also emphasises the importance of frontloaded consultation so that applicants can resolve issues at an early stage, and how communities can influence and shape projects so they can be accommodated to maximise local benefits and minimise any disbenefits.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of council homes in Morley and Outwood constituency.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It is for local authorities to identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in planning and other policies.
We do not collect data by parliamentary constituency on new supply of affordable housing, including on social rent. These data are collected by local authority area and published on gov.uk in Live Table 1006C.
This Government is committed to increasing the supply of social and affordable housing. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country, including social rent.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to take steps to reduce health inequalities through housing in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to improving the quality of rented homes and committed in the Levelling Up White Paper to reduce the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030, building on the extensive progress made since 2010. We are introducing a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector through the Renters (Reform) Bill, which will introduce new standards that all private rented sector homes must meet. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act introduced new measures to drive up the quality of social homes, including through a new proactive consumer regulation regime led by the Regulator of Social Housing. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law, which will set new strict timeframes for social landlords to fix health hazards in homes.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of funding arrangements for Freeports.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has evaluated the public benefit and value for money each Freeport will deliver through the competitive process for selecting Freeport locations and subsequently through a robust business case process. Once approved, these business cases, including details of the benefits the Freeport will deliver, are published online. To ensure Freeports are delivering these returns to the UK and Scottish economies, the Government is also monitoring and evaluating their delivery; our approach is published here.
This allows us to identify the impacts Freeports are already having: for example, we announced in November 2023 that Freeports have already generated £2.9 billion in investment in under two years, which will in turn create 6,000 jobs. It also enables us to monitor the suitability of the Freeports package and identify opportunities to enhance and double down on it. For example, we have recently extended the tax reliefs in Freeports from five to ten years and launched a £150 million flexible Investment Opportunity Fund to secure specific business investment opportunities.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including provisions within the High Streets (Designation, Review and Improvement Plan) Bill on outdoor advertising.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Advertising has a valuable role to play in a free market society. Local councils already have the choice, through powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to refuse applications on amenity or public safety grounds.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict outdoor advertising.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Advertising has a valuable role to play in a free market society. Local councils already have the choice, through powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to refuse applications on amenity or public safety grounds.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of design quality guidance for new build developments in the planning system.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to ensuring the planning system creates more beautiful and sustainable buildings and places. Our national planning policy makes clear that local authorities should engage communities during the preparation of local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code. Local councils can use this guidance to inform local policy and local guidance to define expectations for well-designed new development for their local area.
Furthermore, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduces a requirement for local planning authorities to produce a design code for the whole of their area as part of the development plan, which will give design codes significant weight when planning applications are determined.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what powers local authorities have to prevent the building of poorly designed housing developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to ensuring the planning system creates more beautiful and sustainable buildings and places. Our national planning policy makes clear that local authorities should engage communities during the preparation of local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code. Local councils can use this guidance to inform local policy and local guidance to define expectations for well-designed new development for their local area.
Furthermore, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduces a requirement for local planning authorities to produce a design code for the whole of their area as part of the development plan, which will give design codes significant weight when planning applications are determined.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the research by Adfree cities which found that outdoor advertising is disproportionately placed in areas of existing deprivation, published in March 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Advertising has a valuable role to play in a free market society. Local councils already have the choice, through powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to refuse applications on amenity or public safety grounds.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate of the of the proportion of projected profits earned by Freeports to be received by (a) offshore investors, (b) UK companies and (c) Scottish companies.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has evaluated the public benefit and value for money each Freeport will deliver through the competitive process for selecting Freeport locations and subsequently through a robust business case process. Once approved, these business cases, including details of the benefits the Freeport will deliver, are published online. To ensure Freeports are delivering these returns to the UK and Scottish economies, the Government is also monitoring and evaluating their delivery; our approach is published here.
This allows us to identify the impacts Freeports are already having: for example, we announced in November 2023 that Freeports have already generated £2.9 billion in investment in under two years, which will in turn create 6,000 jobs. It also enables us to monitor the suitability of the Freeports package and identify opportunities to enhance and double down on it. For example, we have recently extended the tax reliefs in Freeports from five to ten years and launched a £150 million flexible Investment Opportunity Fund to secure specific business investment opportunities.