Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues on the publication by local authorities of public notices; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to allow the publication of such notices online.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Statutory notices are an important means for ensuring that the public is kept informed of decisions by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property. The Government has no current plans to legislate on changing provisions on statutory notices.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
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 requiring the refusal of applications for planning permission for solar farms in excess of 50 MW where financing has not been secured.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
In deciding whether or not to grant an application for development consent for above 50MW electricity generation stations such as solar farms, the Energy Secretary of State must have regard under section 104 of the Planning Act 2008 to any relevant National Policy Statement where one has effect.
In addition to this, and also where decisions are taken where no National Policy Statement has effect, the Secretary of State must also have regard to any other matters which are both important and relevant to the decision which may, where compulsory acquisition powers are requested, include details of how the project in question is proposed to be funded.
Revised Energy National Policy Statements were designated on 24 January 2024.
Whilst I appreciate the point my Honourable Friend is making, the planning system upholds a long-standing principle of planning considerations being the lawful basis in making a determination.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) performance of and (b) time taken to commence appeals by the Planning Inspectorate.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Inspectorate has been performing well across a number of key areas such as local plan examinations, nationally significant infrastructure project applications, s62a applications and planning appeals proceeding by hearings and inquiries. The Inspectorate is implementing actions to maintain performance in these areas and to improve end-to-end times for other casework. In the short term those actions are focused around increasing capacity by:
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on reviewing the responses to the call for evidence on local authority remote meetings, published on 25 March 2021; when he plans to publish the Government's response; and what factors have contributed to the Department being unable to do so to date.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I have nothing to add to the answer given to Question UIN 95817 on 2 December 2022.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the average cost of parish council by-elections; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of information provided to parish councils about the cost of such by-elections.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department does not hold this information. Parishes are their own sovereign entity and responsible to their local electors.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on reviewing the responses to the call for evidence on local authority remote meetings, published on 25 March 2021; and when he plans to publish the Government's response.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government issued a call for evidence on remote meetings last year. We are considering the responses and will be issuing a response in due course.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the extended delivery hours for supermarkets and other food retailers implemented during the covid-19 pandemic are still in place; and whether his Department plans to reinstate the overnight delivery restrictions which were in place before 9 March 2020.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government issued a series of Written Ministerial Statements encouraging local planning authorities to take a measured approach to enforcement against breaches of certain planning conditions, including those governing delivery times. The latest of these expired in September 2022. We will keep the issue under review and my hon. Friend is welcome to write to me with information he considers relevant on this matter.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing (a) free and (b) subsidised bus travel to Ukrainian refugees who have settled in rural areas.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Bus travel schemes are administered by the local councils and bus companies.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the call for evidence on whether local authorities and parish councils may meet remotely on a permanent basis, which closed on 17June 2021; and whether he plans to make changes to the existing requirements for those meetings.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
We launched a call for evidence on 25 March 2021 to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis.
The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the call for evidence on whether local authorities and parish councils may meet remotely on a permanent basis, which closed on 17June 2021; and whether he plans to make any changes to the existing requirements for such meetings.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.