Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government) on 7 April (HC40908), what communications representatives of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation have made to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on (1) the Swanscombe Peninsula Site of Special Scientific Interest designation or (2) the presence or absence of distinguished jumping spiders within land owned by the Development Corporation for development, since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Other than a site visit to the Swanscombe Peninsula Site of Special Scientific Interest, hosted by Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) in July 2025 and attended by officials from Defra, Natural England, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, EDC has made no communication to the Department since 4 July 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the starting date by which the net additional dwellings will be measured for the purposes of their target of delivering 1.5 million homes this Parliament, and whether it will include net additional homes delivered before 4 July 2024, but reported later.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Progress toward the government’s Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament will be measured through the number of net additional dwellings.

Whilst net additional dwellings are collected on a financial year basis only, we estimate net additional dwellings from the start of the parliament on Tuesday 9 July 2024.

The latest data on net additional dwellings can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, whether, once an outline application for a site not in a local plan is granted permission by a local planning authority, the provisions of paragraph 59 of the National Planning Policy Framework separately apply to any subsequent planning applications for the site, including any conditions made at outline consent.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Paragraph 59 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is intended to apply to applications for planning permission, including applications for outline permission and reserved matters applications. The NPPF is a material consideration in planning decisions. Viability considerations may be relevant at the stage of approving reserved matters or conditions.