Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing immediate stop notices with penalties for breaches to help reduce cases of members of the travelling community developing on Green Belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to prevent members of the travelling community from developing property on Green Belt land; and if she will take steps to strengthen the planning process in this area.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to provide increased (a) financial and (b) legal support for local authorities to help tackle unauthorised developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.
With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to help tackle the dismissal of High Court injunctions relating to the development of traveller sites.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is for the independent courts to determine the lawfulness of individual injunctions. Local authorities and the police have a range of powers available to manage unauthorised encampments.
Statutory guidance issued by the Home Office sets out how these powers should be applied, including the importance of considering welfare needs and ensuring that any enforcement action is lawful, necessary and proportionate.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty strategy will look beyond the 10-year timeframe.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year Strategy for lasting change, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the timeframes, will be set out in the strategy publication.