Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff network events took place in her Department in May 2025; and what the names of those events were.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Staff networks are collaborative volunteer networks, organised by staff themselves rather than the department. As a result, events are organised by staff themselves, not the department. We are aware of the following (internally) published events that these networks organised in May 2025.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has updated guidance on the use of single-sex facilities in response to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements.
We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant of the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45609 on Knutsford Town Council: Finance, how much of this grant was received by Knutsford Town Council.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Knutsford Town Council received £552,000 of the grant awarded to them in the first round of the Community Ownership Fund. The project failed to proceed as planned. By agreement with the applicant the full amount of grant received was returned to the Department.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding was awarded to Knutsford Town Council via the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is allocated to lead local authorities (LLAs). Details of full funding allocations for LLAs can be found here for 2022-25 and here for 2025-26.
Knutsford Town Council did not directly receive a UKSPF allocation for 2022-25 or 2025-26. However, Knutsford has benefited from UKSPF allocations made to Cheshire East Council who are the LLA for this area.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much Government funding was allocated to Knutsford Town Council in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Knutsford Town Council was awarded a £560,000 grant in September 2023 through the Community Ownership Fund help fund the refurbishment of the Market Hall.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department provides guidance to chief executives of local authorities on attending meetings with Rt hon. and hon. Members.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department does not issue such guidance. Councils are independent, democratic bodies accountable to the communities they serve.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of planning protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites in the in the update to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.
The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. Alongside, reforming building regulations, we will carefully consider how Environmental Outcomes Reports can be used to support our wider carbon reduction targets. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 ensure biodiversity net gain is not used to override protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites and other designated nature sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Development is restricted on sites which are designated for environmental or amenity value, and the National Planning Policy Framework requires local plans to identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity.
Biodiversity Net Gain is additional to these protections for nature and only required on new development that needs planning permission, therefore only applying on designated nature sites in the very limited circumstances where such development is permitted.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Baroness Maclean of Redditch
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.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Baroness Maclean of Redditch
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.