Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will update the NPPF to include guidance on the importance of telecommunications infrastructure in any major planning decisions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.
Chapter 10 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s current policy on supporting high quality communications infrastructure and the latest national planning policy on how telecommunications and mobile network infrastructure should be considered.
In addition, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England (April 2022) sets out the considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will provide guidance to local authorities on ensuring mobile network operators are informed for large-scale developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.
Chapter 10 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s current policy on supporting high quality communications infrastructure and the latest national planning policy on how telecommunications and mobile network infrastructure should be considered.
In addition, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England (April 2022) sets out the considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will increase permitted development rights for telecommunications applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.
We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report by the Office for Budget Responsibility entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in March 2025, CP 1289, whether the forecast of 1.3 million homes in the next five years applies to (a) England and (b) the UK.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41927 on 1 April 2025.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the target of 1.5m homes this Parliament applies to England only.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament applies to England only.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) recently forecast approximately 1.3 million cumulative net additions to housing stock between 2025-26 to 2029-30 as a result solely of the impact of the changes the government made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024. This forecast applies to the UK as a whole. The OBR does not provide a breakdown between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2025 to Question 20982 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, what the (a) job title, (b) unit or division and (c) grade is of each Civil Service job not advertised externally; and for what reason her Department is not advertising all jobs externally.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Further to Answer of 10 January 2025 to Question 20982, see table below detailing (a) job title, (b) unit and (c) grade of jobs not advertised externally for the period 4th July to 31st December 2024.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is moving towards an external by default approach to recruitment. In the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles 2018 there are exemptions to this approach for roles which require a niche skills set or experience which can only be found in the Civil Service. In addition, there are exemptions for short term/temporary roles for projects or areas with tight timescales, whereby current Civil Servants can join the department quickly on loan or fixed term agreements with the correct clearances.
Departmental group | Grade breakdown | Job title | Grade |
Corporate Group | 3x Grade 6 5x Grade 7 6x SEO | Careers and Development Lead | Grade 7 |
Physical Security Lead | SEO | ||
Workforce Team | Grade 6 | ||
Statistician | Grade 7 | ||
Ministerial Team Security Advisers | SEO | ||
Head of Programme Delivery | Grade 6 | ||
Deputy Head of Profession | Grade 7 | ||
Product Manager | SEO | ||
Assistant Departmental Records Officer | SEO | ||
Senior Product Manager | Grade 7 | ||
Private Secretary & Business Manager | SEO | ||
Live Services Manager | SEO | ||
Subject Matter Expert | Grade 7 | ||
Local Government and Public Services | 1x HEO | Communications Officer | HEO |
Local Growth, Communities and Devolution | 6x Grade 6 5x Grade 7 5x SEO 3x HEO | Delivery Manager | SEO |
Head of Unit | Grade 6 | ||
Head of Unit | Grade 6 | ||
Policy Lead | Grade 7 | ||
Head of Policy | Grade 7 | ||
Business Support Officer | HEO | ||
Head of Office | Grade 7 | ||
Programme Manager | Grade 6 | ||
Programme Management Office Manager | Grade 7 | ||
Senior Policy Advisor | SEO | ||
Risk and Issue Manager | SEO | ||
Strategy Policy Advisor | HEO | ||
Policy lead | Grade 6 | ||
Fund Evaluator | SEO | ||
Head of Elections Data | Grade 6 | ||
Policy & Funding Analysis | Grade 6 | ||
Policy Advisor | SEO | ||
Senior Strategy Advisor | Grade 7 | ||
Policy Advisor | HEO | ||
Regeneration, Housing and Planning | 4x Grade 6 7x Grade 7 4x SEO 1x HEO | Policy Team Lead | Grade 7 |
Head of Strategy | Grade 6 | ||
Senior Policy Advisor | Grade 7 | ||
Senior Policy and Strategy Advisors | Grade 7 | ||
Head of Housing Insights & Strategic Policy | Grade 6 | ||
Social Housing Directorate SEOs | SEO | ||
Property Technology Strategy Advisor | Grade 7 | ||
Policy Advisor | SEO | ||
Policy Officer | HEO | ||
Policy Advisor | SEO | ||
Senior Policy Advisor | Grade 7 | ||
Private Secretary | Grade 7 | ||
Head of Programme Management Office | Grade 6 | ||
Project Manager | SEO | ||
Head of Evaluation & Insight | Grade 7 | ||
Head of Economic Analysis | Grade 6 | ||
Senior Policy Adviser | SEO | ||
Safer and Greener Buildings | 1x Grade 6 3x SEO 1x HEO | Construction Products Policy Adviser | SEO |
Community Relationship Manager | SEO | ||
Policy Advisor | HEO | ||
Policy and Briefing Advisor | SEO | ||
Lead Technical Architect | Grade 6 | ||
Strategy and Communications | 1x Grade 6 1x Grade 7 1x HEO | Head of Data Science | Grade 6 |
Videographer | HEO | ||
Senior Private Secretary/Head of Office | Grade 7 |
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that critical cavity nesting bird habitat is mandated in new developments in line with nature recovery targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 20827 on Religious Freedom, what steps the Government is taking to protect freedom of speech in relation to the expression of lawful statements which may be critical of organised religion.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This is a tolerant multi-faith country in which all faiths contribute towards creating a richer society. There are no blasphemy laws in this country and there are no plans to introduce blasphemy laws. This Government will always recognise British citizens’ unchanging right to freedom of speech and expression.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many times the Communities and Recovery Steering Group has met; on what dates; in which locations; and whether minutes are taken.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Communities and Recovery Steering Group meets regularly and, as is standard practice, minutes are taken.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department’s policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Development and Nature Recovery, published on 15 December 2024, whether Biodiversity Net Gain expenditure can be scored against mitigation measures.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proposals set out in the Development and Nature Recovery Planning Reform Working Paper would not be expected to have a direct impact on the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). They would, however, complement the implementation of BNG in securing better outcomes for nature. BNG incentivises nature positive choices on development sites, with a developing private marketplace for off-site biodiversity units which the government continues to support. Our proposals for a Nature Recovery Fund would apply specifically to protected habitats and species. As we continue to develop this new model, we will consider any opportunities which it may offer to support the ongoing implementation of BNG.