Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to improve the quality of planning advice made available to the neighbourhood planning process.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has recently published updated neighbourhood planning guidance to support communities in the preparation of their plans. The amended guidance includes changes to reflect the updated National Planning Policy Framework which is clear about the important role that neighbourhood plans play in our plan-led system. Additional practical advice is provided through the Government’s £26 million Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme, which includes support from a national network of local neighbourhood planning champions.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding is available to communities wishing to undertake a neighbourhood plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Government is making available £34.5 million of support for neighbourhood planning for 2018-22. This is comprised of our £26 million Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme and an additional £8.5 million funding, announced in May 2019, to help communities bring forward affordable homes for sale in their neighbourhood plans.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether solar energy and storage will be mandated in all new homes before 2025 when building regulations Part L are next reviewed.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Building Regulations set minimum energy performance standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. They are deliberately couched in performance terms and do not prescribe the technologies, materials or fuels to be used.
We are, however, planning to consult later this year on an uplift to the Building Regulations energy efficiency standards where there are safe, practical, cost-effective, and affordable opportunities to do so.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the status of a local authority’s Local Plan housing allocation is if it is contrary to the numbers required in the Government’s new housing formula; and steps the Government plans to take to ensure that the two are in conformity.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
An adopted Local Plan forms part of the Development Plan for an area and is the basis for making planning decisions. Government expects local plans and spatial development strategies to be reviewed to assess whether they need updating at least once every 5 years, and should then be updated as necessary. There will be occasions where there are significant changes in circumstances which may mean it is necessary to review the relevant strategic policies earlier than the statutory minimum of 5 years.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have local plans; and what sanctions are available to his Department in relation to local authorities that do not have a local plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
290 local planning authorities (88 per cent) have adopted Local Plans (as of 31 May 2019). The remaining 39 (12 per cent) are making progress, with 28 of these currently being examined by an independent Planning Inspector. Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 the Secretary of State has a broad range of powers available to intervene in the plan making process, including a power to take over the production of a plan.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the rural sparsity factor in the calculation of Government support for rural areas; and if he will ensure that changes can be incorporated within the delivery of the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Government’s aim is to increase local government’s retention of business rates from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. To ensure the increase in business rates retention is fiscally neutral, some existing grants (including the Rural Services Delivery Grant) will be devolved to local authorities so that these responsibilities are funded through retained business rates. We recognise that some redistribution of business rates between authorities will continue to be necessary to ensure that no council loses out if it is unable to collect enough business rates locally to meet its needs. We are therefore undertaking a review of local authorities’ relative needs and resources to determine the basis on which redistribution will take place in the new system.
The review of relative needs and resources will set fresh baseline funding levels for councils in England, and we are working closely with local government representatives and others to examine all of the available evidence for the costs faced by authorities, including how geographical features such as rurality and density affect the cost of delivering services across the country, and how to account for these in a robust manner. In December 2018 we published a consultation paper that set out a proposed ‘Area Cost Adjustment’ methodology to account for these factors. This included consideration of how levels of 'accessibility' and 'remoteness' - the impact of journey times on labour and procurement costs - might account for the additional costs associated with sparsity, isolation or market size. For example, local authorities with longer journey times from service points to households may have to pay their staff (e.g. on domiciliary care visits) for more hours in order to deliver an equivalent level of service.
In developing this innovative new approach, we have worked closely with both local government and other government departments, including the Department for Transport and DEFRA as champions for rural proofing. Our most recent consultation closed on 21 February and we are considering the many representations made in response, before taking further decisions on the shape of the review.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review planning requirements with regard to the rollout of 5G technology to ensure that safety concerns are taken into account.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
As announced by the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 12 June, we will shortly be consulting on proposals to simplify planning processes in England to support the rollout of 5G and further improve mobile coverage in rural areas.
Public Health England’s (PHE’s) Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards takes the lead on public health matters associated with radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, or radio waves, used in telecommunications. Central to PHE advice is that exposure to radio waves should comply with the guidelines published by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). ICNIRP is formally recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO).
While a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves is possible when 5G is added to the existing network, the overall exposure is expected to remain low and well within the ICNIRP guidelines.
National planning policy sets out that applications for electronic communications equipment should be supported by a statement that self-certifies that when operational, ICNIRP guidelines will be met.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to increase the number of (a) environmental health officers and (b) trading standards officers after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The local staffing for the delivery of regulatory services is a matter for those local authorities that have the statutory responsibility. Government has provided resources and support for councils for Brexit preparations. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has made £58 million available to help councils prepare for and manage EU exit. The FSA has already made £4 million available in total so far (£2 million in 18/19, and £2 million in 19/20) for ensuring that food safety obligations are met in the event of a no deal Exit. DEFRA made 200 free training places available to help with the signing of Environmental Health Certificates.