Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing the statutory requirement to consult local authorities as part of the pre-application stage for nationally significant infrastructure projects, and the impact of removing that statutory requirement on local authorities securing community benefit.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Replacing the statutory requirement to consult on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) will give applicants and local authorities greater flexibility to engage in a more proportionate way. The Government has designed its policy to ensure local authorities can continue to play an important role in the NSIP regime. Applicants will be required by law to notify local authorities of their schemes. Local authorities will also be able to continue to provide Local Impact Reports to the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State outlining the impacts of a scheme on their area. The Government has also committed to extending the power for local authorities to recover costs from applicants for their advice. A consultation seeking views on how to achieve this closed on 28 October. Community benefits are typically secured through legally binding development consent obligations (DC obligations), which remain enforceable regardless of changes to consultation requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold data on the number of professional and vocational qualifications awarded in the field of construction and bricklaying in 2024.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further education and skills:
For the full 2023/24 academic year, there were 12,840 apprenticeships achievements in the construction, planning and build environment sector subject area covering all ages. An additional 48,750 adult achievement regulated qualifications in construction, were supported by Adult Skills Budget.
T Levels:
T Levels completions that count towards performance tables in 2023/24 were:
Key Stage 4:
In 2023/24, 9,548 pupils took construction Technical Awards that count towards performance tables.
16 to 18:
Published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release.
For 2023/24, vocational qualifications counting towards performance tables were taken by:
More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2023-24.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities will not be able to deliver a five-year housing land supply in their local plan following the decision to increase mandatory housing targets, and which local authorities will not be able to deliver that supply.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. We have restored this test to safeguard the delivery of homes.
While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to incentivise housing developers to speed up to allow local authorities to adopt new housing estates.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the difference between commissioners and envoys in the context of local government intervention.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State may intervene under the Local Government Act 1999 where they are satisfied that a council is failing to meet its Best Value Duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement. Intervention typically involves directing the council to take specific actions to improve and appointing individuals to work with the council to support their improvement.
Commissioners have been appointed to seven councils to provide challenge and exercise specified council functions if necessary to accelerate improvement.
Ministerial Envoys have been appointed to two councils to provide support and guidance, helping them drive their own improvement, and generally do not have the ability to exercise council functions.
Some Ministerial Envoys hold powers in reserve to exercise council functions, which are intended to be used only as a last resort to ensure compliance with the Best Value Duty.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with Canterbury City Council before allocating property on Herne Bay High Street as asylum accommodation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Asylum Accommodation Services Contracts set out a number of principles in relation to working with local authorities, and other stakeholders including consultation and liaison regarding the location of accommodation and other issues, ranging from security controls to the impact on local amenities.
It is through this consultation and liaison that local authorities may raise any objection to specific properties being used as asylum accommodation, including on behalf of the local people they represent.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they carried out with the local community before allocating the King's Gap Hotel in Hoylake as accommodation for single males seeking asylum.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office engaged with Wirral Borough council a number of times and remain committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders to identify and mitigate potential risks and address community concerns regarding asylum accommodation.
The Home Office is committed to engaging with local authorities and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any risks to and concerns of the wider community. This includes working closely with the police and other agencies in matters relating to the operation of the sites, safety, and security.’
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council before allocating the King's Gap Hotel in Hoylake as accommodation for single males seeking asylum.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office engaged with Wirral Borough council a number of times and remain committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders to identify and mitigate potential risks and address community concerns regarding asylum accommodation.
The Home Office is committed to engaging with local authorities and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any risks to and concerns of the wider community. This includes working closely with the police and other agencies in matters relating to the operation of the sites, safety, and security.’
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to stop funding the Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme on the creation of new neighbourhood plans, and why that decision was taken.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Following the Spending Review, my Department has announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.
Technical support which has already been awarded will continue to be provided but must be completed before the end of March 2026.
The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of uncontracted and unsold affordable homes across England; and how many housebuilders have been supported since the Section 106 Affordable Housing Clearance Service was launched in 2024.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government does not collect or publish data on uncontracted and unsold affordable homes in England.
The Homes England clearance service launched in December 2024 to help improve the functioning of the market for affordable housing, by supporting buyers and sellers to find each other more effectively - with developers able to share details of unsold section 106 affordable homes for registered providers and local authorities to search. Since its launch, as of March 2025, 411 organisations have registered. This includes:
The government calls on all developers with uncontracted Section 106 affordable homes, as well as registered providers and local planning authorities, to engage proactively with the service.