Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 potential merits of introducing legislation to protect residents of retirement villages and for setting minimum standards for operators of retirement communities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
In the Levelling Up White Paper, we committed to a new taskforce on the issue of older people's housing, which will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people, and support the growth of a thriving older people's housing sector in this country.
Where retirement housing providers are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, the Regulator has the role of ensuring that providers are well-managed and are able to meet the regulatory standards.
The Care Quality Commission oversees standards of personal care services in housing-with-care retirement settings irrespective of housing tenure.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the standard method for calculating local housing need provided by his Department for local authorities.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The standard method for calculating local housing need has been in place since 2018. The Government keeps all elements of its policies under review and, should there be announcements to make, will do so in the usual way and in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will make it its policy to make it mandatory for a planning inspector to visit any site that is being proposed for removal from the green belt as part of a local development plan.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Paragraph 140 of the National Planning Policy Framework states that 'once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans'
All local plans must be submitted for independent examination by an inspector. Where a local authority is proposing to amend Green Belt boundaries, it is for the inspector to decide if exceptional circumstances have been adequately demonstrated, and ultimately, whether the local plan is 'sound' and can be adopted.
Government policy on local plan examination site visits is set out in paragraph 3.23 of 'Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations’. It states that: 'The Inspector will decide which sites and locations they need to visit in order to assess the soundness of the plan and may also undertake a familiarisation tour of the area. Site visits may take place at any time during the examination'.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the process is by which a local development plan can be modified once adopted.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The law requires local planning authorities to review their local plans at least once every five years to assess whether updates are needed. When updates are needed, authorities must follow the local plan preparation process set out in law. The plan-making section of Government's planning practice guidance provides further details on this process. Government planning practice guidance also sets out the process for updating neighbourhood plans.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he will publish the Government's response to his Department's call for evidence on local authority remote meetings.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the process is by which land that has been removed from the green belt can be returned to the green belt.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Local authorities are responsible for creating and protecting Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework states that a local authority can take land out of Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process. Similarly, if a local authority considers that certain land would, and should, serve the purposes of Green Belt as set out in the Framework, it could propose the new designation as a policy in a revised local plan, and consult the local community. After any further revision, the draft plan would be submitted for formal examination in public by an independent Planning Inspector, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State. The plan (including any new Green Belt boundary) is checked thoroughly to confirm whether it is sound: that is, positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the Framework.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 make it his policy to retain current protections afforded to greenbelt areas in future Government planning proposals.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority can take land out of Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process, and only if it can demonstrate that it has explored all other reasonable options. These strong protections for Green Belt land will remain firmly in place.