Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have monitored unauthorised alterations to listed buildings since the removal of the zero rating of VAT in 2012.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government does not monitor unauthorised alterations to listed buildings. This is a matter for individual local planning authorities.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to respond to the consultation on proposed reforms to England’s National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 7852 on 14 October 2024.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many listed buildings have been granted an exemption from obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing such a statutory exemption for listed buildings to protect their historic value.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not hold information on how many listed buildings have been granted an exemption from obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate. Therefore, we have not made an assessment of the potential merits of providing a statutory exemption for listed buildings to protect their historic value.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to reduce the planning burdens of installing electric car charging points in listed homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is fully committed to encouraging homeowners to incorporate energy efficiency measures in their properties in order to tackle climate change. As part of this, we recognise the need to ensure that more historic buildings are able to be adapted to support our zero carbon objectives.
In our recently published White Paper, Planning for the Future, we have therefore committed to reviewing and updating the planning framework for listed buildings and conservation areas, to ensure their significance is conserved while allowing, where appropriate, sympathetic changes to support their continued use and address climate change.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to exempt public conveniences owned or managed by (a) parish and (b) town councils from national non-domestic rates.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Government recognises the importance of public toilets as a valuable community amenity and encourages local authorities to keep them open to the public. We are keeping under review the need for any further action to support local authorities, including parish and town councils, in doing so.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 116503, whether the revised National Planning Policy Framework to include new development will take account of culture, history and tradition where noise nuisance complaints are made about the continued ringing of church bells and chimes by residents living within developments that have changed in use such as where a house has been converted to a Bed and Breakfast.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The revised National Planning Policy Framework will clearly set out that the developer or ‘agent of change’ should be responsible for mitigating noise impacts and other potential nuisances arising from existing businesses and other organisations, such as churches when locating new development or changing uses nearby. However, noise nuisance complaints in existing developments are not handled through the planning system. They are subject to the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and other relevant law.
We are committed to working across government to further strengthen the ‘agent of change’ principle in policy and guidance.