Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to (1) the police service, and (2) the fire and rescue service in 2025–26 to cover the cost of the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions; what methodology they used to calculate the amount allocated to each service; and what methodology they used to calculate the funding allocated to (a) standalone fire and rescue authorities, and (b) fire and rescue services that are part of a county council.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As of 1 April 2025, Ministerial responsibility for Fire transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Home Office retains Ministerial responsibility for policing.
Home Office has paid £230.3 million of funding for territorial police forces to cover the costs of the increases to National Insurance Contributions. Funding for National Insurance increases to the police is allocated according to total workforce headcount shares as at 31 March 2024.
In recognition of the decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions, MHCLG has provided £515 million to local authorities in England. This includes standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities, as well as Fire and Rescue Authorities that are part of a county council. Allocations are based on local authorities’ net current expenditure.
Payments to local authorities are un-ringfenced to allow for discretion over the use of funds in their area. This funding can be used to mitigate the additional costs of employer National Insurance Contributions within direct, commissioned, and externally provided local services, for example.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the criteria are for granting of planning permission on strategic airfield sites to be reviewed.
Answered by Lord Barwell
All applications for planning permission, including any that are called in by the Secretary of State, must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The National Planning Policy Framework is a material consideration in planning decisions and the Framework’s policies for delivering sustainable development must be considered as a whole. Where relevant, this would include the policy for airports and airfields (that are not subject to a separate national policy statement), which expects local planning authorities to take account of their growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. Planning guidance supporting the Framework makes clear that local authorities should consider the interconnectivity between airfields of different sizes and that they should have regard to the Aviation Policy Framework.
Airfields are considered alongside all other relevant planning considerations by the decision-taker in determining a planning application.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria he plans to use to assess the case for planning permission for housing on Dunsfold Aerodrome.
Answered by Lord Barwell
On 8 March, my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, called in an application for planning permission for a mixed use settlement at Dunsfold Park (aerodrome), Cranleigh, Surrey. In doing so, he explained that the matters he wished to be particularly informed about in considering the application were the location and sustainability of the proposal and any other matters that the planning inspector conducting the inquiry considers to be relevant. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on this case.
All applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.