Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to ensure that local authorities are required to hold a new public consultation when an (a) existing and (b) proposed local plan is replaced by a new local plan.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Consultation requirements on the current local plan process are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (‘the Local Plan Regulations’). In the initial stages of plan production, local planning authorities must comply with specific requirements in regulation 18 of the Local Plan Regulations on consultation, and with commitments in their Statement of Community Involvement. Local planning authorities must also make available each of the proposed submission documents they intend to submit to the Planning Inspectorate for examination to enable representations to come forward that can be considered at examination, under regulation 19 of the Local Plan Regulations.
In the reformed planning system, opportunities for communities and other interested parties to influence and comment on emerging plans will be retained, with the digital powers allowing both plans and underpinning data to be accessed and understood more easily.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Charities Act 2022: implementation plan, published April 2022, what plans do the Government have to bring sections 15 and 16 of the Act into force.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Charities Act 2022 on decisions by trustees of national museums to consider the moral claims of restitution claimants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the implementation of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 on the ability of trustees of national museums to seek authorisation from the (a) Charity Commission, (b) Attorney general or (c) in the courts to return collection items if they are motivated by a moral obligation.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government plans to change the requirements in new developments for affordable housing.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Should any proposals to change aspects of housing policy be deemed reasonable and proportionate, we will bring forward those proposals in the usual manner.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's policy is on the approval of planning applications for solar plants on agricultural land.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
National planning policy is clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewable and low carbon sources such as solar plants.
The National Planning Policy Framework also outlines that planning decisions should “contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment” by recognising the “benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land”.
Planning guidance outlines that local planning authorities will need to consider “focussing large scale solar farms on previously developed and non agricultural land, provided that it is not of high environmental value”.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's policy is on ensuring that properties looking to erect an additional floor require planning permission.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To support the supply of new homes, national planning policy expects that local planning policies and decisions should respond positively to suitable opportunities to deliver additional new homes above existing residential and commercial premises.
We have introduced new permitted development rights to allow certain existing residential and commercial buildings to extend upwards by up to two storeys to create new homes and extra living space. The rights are subject to prior approval by the local planning authority on specific matters, including potential impacts on the amenity of neighbours. This ensures that people who might be affected by such a development can feed their views into the decision making process.
We continue to keep the rights under review.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of building housing on the site proposed for the Radlett Rail Freight Interchange in Hertsmere constituency.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Because of the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, I cannot comment about the merits of particular plans or development proposals. It is for the local planning authority to consider the merits of any proposed development and any planning decision should be determined in accordance with the local development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This would typically include an assessment of the site context and policies referred to in the National Planning Policy Framework, such as Green Belt, Local Green Spaces and other relevant designations.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to allow pre-legislative scrutiny of the forthcoming Digital Markets Competition and Consumer Bill announced in the Queen's Speech 2022.
Answered by Damian Collins
The new pro-competition regime will remove the obstacles to competition and drive growth in digital markets, delivering lower prices for UK families, and giving consumers more choice and control over the services they use online.
The Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill was announced as part of the Queen's Speech 2022 and will be published as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide an update on the Government's policy on digital market competition.
Answered by Damian Collins
The new pro-competition regime will remove the obstacles to competition and drive growth in digital markets, delivering lower prices for UK families, and giving consumers more choice and control over the services they use online.
The Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill was announced as part of the Queen's Speech 2022 and will be published as soon as parliamentary time allows.