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Written Question
Renewable Energy: Agriculture
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on support for planning applications by agricultural businesses to (a) install solar panels and (b) expand into the green energy sector.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.

A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.


Written Question
Farms: Planning Permission
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to (a) invest in and (b) fast-track the planning process for water storage, recycling and treatment on farms.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.

A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.


Written Question
Horticulture: Planning Permission
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with local government to deliver a planning policy that encourages horticultural growers to expand and modernise.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.

A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.


Written Question
Buildings: Insulation
Wednesday 8th March 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to safeguard tenants in buildings where the owner would qualify for the building safety fund to repair unsafe cladding but chooses not to apply to that fund because they are seeking to sell the freehold.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

Building owners have a legal responsibility to make sure their buildings are safe. Where remediation works are required, they must take appropriate action without delay. Even if the building owner is intending to sell the freehold, it is not an excuse not to progress works to make the building safe. Where the freehold is sold, the new freeholder assumes all responsibilities and liabilities of the previous freeholder.


Written Question
Affordable Housing: Construction
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure the continued operation of enabling hubs for community groups building their own houses following the closure of the Community Housing Fund.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

Through the Community Housing Fund, my department provided £6 million in grant funding over 2018/19 and 2019/20 to a consortium of leading community-led housing stakeholder groups to support the development of a national network of enabling hubs. These enabling hubs provide impartial advice and guidance to community-based organisations wishing to take forward local housebuilding schemes to help meet local housing needs. Part of the justification for providing grant funding to the hubs was to enable them to develop to the point where they become financially self-sustaining through the fees that they are able to charge community-based housebuilding groups.


Written Question
Affordable Housing: Construction
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has put arrangements in place for support for community groups building their own homes following the closure of the Community Housing Fund.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Community Housing Fund closed at the end of March. Departmental budgets for 2021/22 have been confirmed at the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and my department is now undertaking a process of allocation of budgets to individual programmes. The needs of the community-led housing sector will be taken into consideration alongside the full range of the department’s priorities. In the meantime, organisations that are registered as providers of social housing may seek capital funding from the over £12 billion Affordable Homes Programme operated outside London by Homes England.


Written Question
Community Housing Fund
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the Community Housing Fund was not renewed.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Community Housing Fund closed at the end of March. Departmental budgets for 2021/22 have been confirmed at the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and my department is now undertaking a process of allocation of revenue budgets to individual programmes. The needs of the community-led housing sector will be taken into consideration alongside the full range of the department’s priorities. In the meantime, organisations that are registered as providers of social housing can seek capital funding from the over £12 billion Affordable Homes Programme operated outside London by Homes England.


Written Question
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Friday 18th December 2020

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to set zero carbon standards for new housing.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. We must ensure that the energy efficiency standards we set through the Building Regulations for new homes put us on track to meet the 2050 target.

In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation on Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations, which proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards. These homes will be ‘zero carbon ready’, with the ability to become fully zero carbon homes over time as the electricity grid decarbonises, without the need for further costly retrofitting work.

We will be publishing the Government response to the Future Homes Standard interim uplift consultation as soon as possible. This will set out a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.


Written Question
Housing Associations: Energy
Friday 18th December 2020

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has in place to support housing associations in retrofitting their older housing stock with energy efficient measures.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

In the Charter for Social Housing Residents – Social Housing White Paper published on 17 November 2020, we committed to review the Decent Homes Standard. We will consider if it should be updated, including how it can better support the decarbonisation and energy efficiency of social homes.

At the Chancellor’s summer economic update, the Government announced a £50 million demonstrator project to start the decarbonisation of social housing during 2020/21. At the Spending Review 2020, The Chancellor announced £60 million of further funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, to continue upgrading the least efficient social housing.

The Prime Minister announced an extension to the Green Homes Grant which social landlords are eligible to bid for. This will fund up to two thirds of the cost of hiring tradespeople to upgrade the energy performance of homes.


Written Question
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit
Thursday 10th January 2019

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.

Answered by Jake Berry

HM Treasury has already allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the devolved administrations for Brexit preparations so far. This includes the £1.5 billion of additional funding HM Treasury announced at Autumn Budget 2017 for 2018/19. A full breakdown of how this was allocated to departments can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on 13 March (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/).

MHCLG did not receive Brexit preparations allocation for the financial year 2018/19.