Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of leaseholders appointing a Building Safety Director when they live in high rise blocks with voluntary Resident Management Companies.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Building Safety Act 2022 provides that resident-led companies will have the option to appoint a person with the relevant professional expertise to their board, to support them in meeting their building safety duties. The consultation on the secondary legislation relating to the building safety director proposals is open until 7 February 2023 and we will consider all responses prior to finalising the policy.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authorities allocating funding to waking watches in tower blocks.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Waking Watch Relief Fund was launched in January 2021 and the Waking Watch Replacement Fund was launched in January 2022. The funds covered the cost of installing a fire alarm to replace waking watch measures in buildings where a waking watch was in place and where those costs were being passed on to leaseholders.
As of 30 November 2022, 237 applications across both funds have been approved which will enable Waking Watch measures to be replaced with an alarm system in 368 buildings. Of the 368 buildings approved for funding, 314 have completed alarm installations.
The department publishes a monthly data release which includes information on the Waking Watch Relief and Replacement Funds which can be found here.
We continue to monitor the use of waking watches and welcome comments and feedback on the properties with experience of them.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which local authorities do not have a housing plan in place.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that local plans should provide a framework for addressing housing needs, as well as other economic, social and environmental priorities.
As of 30 September 2021, 23 local planning authorities (7%) do not have an adopted local plan (under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004). Most are at an advanced stage of preparing plans:12 have submitted their plan for examination in public; and a further 2 have had their plans found sound following examination and expected to adopt shortly. The authorities that have no plan in place are:
Amber Valley
Ashfield
Basildon
Brentwood
Bury
Calderdale
Castle Point
Eastleigh
Epping Forest
Liverpool
Medway
North East Derbyshire
North Hertfordshire
Northumberland
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
Salford
St Albans
Tameside
Uttlesford
Welwyn Hatfield
Windsor and Maidenhead
Wirral
York
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will provide (a) details and (b) the number of local plans that have been halted by the Planning Inspectorate in each year since 2010.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Since 2011, 55 local plan Development Plan Documents (DPDs) have been withdrawn by the local authority, or been found unsound or legally non-compliant by an Inspector, following:
A breakdown by year is provided below:
Year | Number of local plan DPDs |
2011 | 6 |
2012 | 4 |
2013 | 15 |
2014 | 12 |
2015 | 8 |
2016 | 0 |
2017 | 2 |
2018 | 1 |
2019 | 0 |
2020 | 6 |
2021 (up to 31 October) | 1 |
Total | 55 |
This constitutes 9% of all DPDs examined during this period, with 639 DPDs (91%) found sound subject to modifications.
Most of the plans withdrawn or found unsound or legally non-compliant, 45 out of the 55, were examined during the period 2011-2016. The reduction in the last 5 years has resulted from a letter from the then Secretary of State in 2015, asking that Inspectors work pragmatically with LPAs to find plans sound.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what weight is given to Ministerial statements on housing growth by the Planning Inspectorate at local plan inquiries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local Plans are assessed to determine whether they are sound. Plans are sound if they are: positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy - enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework and other statements of national planning policy (including those announced via Ministerial Statement), where relevant.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department is providing to local planning authorities on local plans that are constrained as a result of pressures on the Green Belt.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have published planning practice guidance which sets out how authorities should consider the constraints, such as Green Belt, when determining the suitability, availability and achievability of sites within their plan, and which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/housing-and-economic-land-availability-assessment.
This Government is committed to protecting and enhancing the Green Belt, in line with our manifesto. The National Planning Policy Framework outlines strong protections for Green Belt land, and states that a Green Belt boundary may be altered only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process. A local authority should consider releasing land from Green Belt only if it can evidence that it has examined all other reasonable options for meeting its development needs. The local authority should demonstrate that it has used as much brownfield land as possible, optimised densities, and discussed with neighbouring authorities whether they could accommodate some of the development required.
The Framework strongly encourages the re-use of brownfield, especially for housing, to relieve some of the pressure to consider other land, including Green Belt. It says that local authorities should give substantial weight to the value of redeveloping suitable brownfield sites, including development above transport infrastructure. Communities are also expected to consider gentle densification within settlements to provide more developable land.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made in bringing forward legislative proposals to establish a new Building Safety Regulator as announced in the Queen's Speech 2021.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Building Safety Bill was published in draft on 20 July 2020 and has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny by the HCLG Select Committee. The Government has been considering the Committee’s report and recommendations and will introduce the Bill as soon as Parliamentary time allows. In addition, we have already established the Building Safety Regulator in shadow form within the Health and Safety Executive. The shadow Building Safety Regulator is primarily focused on developing, and preparing for, the new regulatory regime
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will hold discussions with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society on including in any review of loneliness, the potential effect of vehicles (a) driving and (b) parking on pavements obstructing access to communities for (i) older and (ii) disabled people who suffer from loneliness.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
My Department is supporting the cross-government strategy to tackle loneliness and social isolation led by the Parliament Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society, including by linking our existing initiatives that tackle loneliness to other government policies. Our policies tackle social isolation and loneliness by supporting and celebrating integrated and resilient communities in which everyone can participate. We look forward to raising these policies with the new Minister for Loneliness.
We recognise the nuisance caused to vulnerable members of our community such as visually impaired or elderly people when their access is restricted by road vehicles parked on pavements. My Hon Friend, Jesse Norman MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, is currently considering the effectiveness of powers to tackle pavement parking.
We want to see vibrant hubs where people live, shop, use services, and spend their leisure time, and that includes a welcoming and safe night-time economy.