City Regions: Pension Funds

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Goddard of Stockport

Tuesday 23rd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goddard of Stockport]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to encourage the new City Regions to invest the pension funds they hold in infrastructure developments that will assist in the economic recovery.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, the Chancellor has announced that local government pension scheme assets worth around £180 billion will be pooled into six British wealth funds to drive investment in infrastructure and local growth. We issued guidance alongside the Autumn Statement that made it clear that authorities should be more ambitious in their infrastructure investment and compare themselves with the example set by the leading global pension fund investors.

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

I thank the Minister for her Answer. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is a leader in pooling funds and moving forward. In fact, its pension fund is developing the housing market. It is also drawing up a spatial strategy for planning for Greater Manchester that will deliver 10,000 homes a year over the next 20 years, and that is to be applauded. Can the Minister say why the Department for Communities and Local Government is threatening each and every local authority in Greater Manchester by saying that, unless they draw up their own local plans, it will withhold the new homes bonus fee? The combined authority does what it says on the tin: it is combined. With every authority doing that, it will be done 10 times. I would like an answer to that question.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I totally concur with the noble Lord that the GM pension fund performs very well and meets the needs of its members almost 100%. I am not surprised that the noble Lord has brought this up, given the way Greater Manchester has thought over the last few years, certainly in terms of its ambitions for strategic housing. I would be very happy to meet both the noble Lord and members of the combined authority to see what progress we can make in this area.

Housing: Office Conversions

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Goddard of Stockport

Wednesday 2nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goddard of Stockport]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how the policy to allow offices to be converted into housing has worked so far, and whether they intend to extend the policy beyond next year, when it is due to lapse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, we announced on 12 October that we would make permanent the permitted development right for the change of use from office to residential use. From April 2014 to June 2015, 3,971 schemes have secured the permitted development right, which will deliver much-needed new homes.

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer. Is she aware that the British Council for Offices has estimated that 6 million square feet of office accommodation has been lost? In London, it is more disastrous than that: 834,000 square metres have been lost, 40% of which was due to evictions. They are thriving businesses trying to deliver for the economy, which have been thrown out by unscrupulous landlords trying to make profit from running around the planning rules. This is an unintended consequence of a policy that was right when it was brought in. We should look again because clearly that was not the idea. It was to create jobs and homes, not to create the complete opposite, which is what is happening.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I thank the noble Lord for that useful supplementary question. As he and I know, in Stockport and Trafford the policy has worked very well and has helped to deliver much- needed footfall and population to some of our town centres. The British Council for Offices estimates that the right has resulted in 7,600 much-needed homes, including in London and the south-east. The office market continues to develop, as noted by the British Council for Offices, with modern office developments being brought forward, but where there is evidence that it is necessary to protect the amenity and well-being of existing business areas, as the noble Lord said, local planning authorities can bring forward Article 4 directions to remove the right and require a planning application. Twenty local planning authorities have already done this.