Gateway 3 New-build Applications

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is quite right to point to the balance we need here. I can do no better than to quote Andy Roe, who said that

“the BSR remains firmly committed to its core mission: keeping residents and their homes safe. Life-safety critical defects cannot be ignored and improvements to efficiency cannot be pursued at the expense of rigour”.

So we must get the balance right here: we have to speed up these processes and get them working properly for the industry, but we must also make sure that, in doing that, we do not relax at all on the very clear standards we must have to keep buildings safe.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, there are great concerns about the standards being applied in the building industry nowadays. We no longer have Walker Morris standards to guide us, but, having had many dangerous situations such as Grenfell Tower and a lack of quality in many builds, particularly in large estates, surely it is necessary to increase the resources available to the regulator in order to deal with these matters quickly and make sure that the standards people expect are maintained.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I think the noble Lord might have been referring to Parker Morris standards, but it is quite right that we have to focus very hard on keeping up the quality of build. That is absolutely what the building safety regulator is there to do. We are making sure that we support Andy Roe and his team in what they need to do. As I am sure noble Lords are aware, there has been a capacity issue in the system, but the June spending review committed an additional £1.2 billion a year to the skills system, supporting over 65,000 additional learners in key areas such as housebuilding, remediation and building safety. That will be critical. We have also invested £16.5 million specifically to recruit and train registered building inspectors, who form a vital part of this process. We are working with the independent building control panel to identify system-wide improvements, which I am sure will help with the issues the noble Lord is concerned about.

Planning: Energy Efficiency and Fire Safety

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate

Monday 23rd June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

As this is incorporated into the planning process, it will become part of how planning is done so that it will be put in from the outset. We will accelerate the specific types of infrastructure, including making sure that, as people put planning applications in, we look at them to make sure that buildings are fit for purpose, do not need retrofitting and will have solar panels and, where appropriate, ground source heat pumps. Our commitment is to get to net zero as quickly as we can while making sure the planning system is fit for purpose in delivering that across the country.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, the issue of sustainable energy concerns us all, particularly with the advent of a large number of applications for solar farms. Is the Minister aware that, on fire safety, there are deep concerns among the population because of the lithium battery plants that have to go with these solar farms? Where other solar farms have been created around the world, there have been considerable dangers, and fires have occurred that have put local populations in some jeopardy. Does the Minister have any comment on that?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I understand the question the noble Lord is asking. I remind the House that 0.1% of the country has solar farms. I understand that that is not the question he was asking, but it is raised very frequently in the House. I will take back the issue of lithium batteries and solar farms and send him a Written Answer.

Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

In begging leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, I declare my interest as the legislator responsible for the Private Member’s Bill that became the Parking Act 1989.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for kicking off the very lengthy process that we are involved in today. The Government issued a code in February 2022, but it had to be withdrawn in June 2022 because of a legal challenge. Areas of challenge included concerns that the code incorporated lower caps than the industry caps on parking charges at the time and that it banned debt recovery fees. The Government are currently actively reviewing how best to raise standards in the industry and plan to launch a consultation about the private parking code of practice in the near future.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

Oh dear. Following the success of my good friend the right honourable Sir Greg Knight in securing the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, we still do not have an actual code in place six years on. Delays by the previous Government, through litigation and a need to consult—I think twice —more broadly, have all allowed things to come to a halt. We really must have the code, and I am therefore disappointed that the Minister refers to yet another consultation. This code is needed, so please can it arrive soon?

[Noble Lords]

Hear, hear!

Car Parking Companies

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for the non-controversial Question of the day and for all the campaigning he has done on this issue; I know it is a great frustration to so many people. The problem was that, when the code was laid in 2022 as a result of the 2019 Act, there was a legal challenge and it had to be withdrawn. We are going out to consultation again, to make sure that we do the consultation properly and thoroughly. We will bring forward a further code of practice in due course, once that consultation has been done properly. I understand the point my noble friend is making. If he wants to put in a submission to the consultation, we would be very pleased to hear it.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as introducing and taking through the House in 1889—

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

In 1989, not 1889—I was a little young then. I took through the House the Parking Bill, which introduced cashless parking into this country for the first time. I am sure noble Lords will be very pleased about that. Subsequently, as has been referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Spellar, in his excellent question, my right honourable friend Sir Gregory Knight, who was the MP in Yorkshire, introduced this further parking Act, which had clear instructions for a code of practice to be introduced. The Minister mentioned that that was put on hold in 2022. Surely we can now make some progress, because we all know of the many abuses which take place, particularly in the private parking industry.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, I have not been in this ministerial post since 2022. I will now take action on this as quickly as I can. I thank the noble Lord for his work on this and agree that it is very important that we get it resolved as quickly as possible. The industry did step up and produce its own code of practice, covering the whole private parking industry. That was a step forward, but we need to do what it says in the Act and introduce a government code of practice. We will get on with that as quickly as possible.