Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 to Question 107848 on 27 January 2026, if he will publish (a) the list of attendees and (b) the minutes of his meeting with Norfolk County Council on 16 December 2025.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The meeting was attended by representatives from Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils: Cllr Matthew Hicks, Nicola Beach, Andrew Cook, Cllr Kay Mason Billig and Tom McCabe.
My Department has no plans to publish the minutes of the meeting.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what dates his Department had discussions with Norfolk County Council on the cancellation of 2026 elections; and and if he will publish the minutes from those meetings.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I met all leaders of Devolution Priority Programme Areas on 11 December, where many areas raised concerns about their capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside local elections. I also met Norfolk County Council on 16 December where the same concerns were raised.
A summary of the decision was provided through the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 January and the letter sent to council leaders, both of which are publicly available.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 publish documents relating to his decision to postpone Norfolk county council elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I met all leaders of Devolution Priority Programme Areas on 11 December, where many areas raised concerns about their capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside local elections. I also met Norfolk County Council on 16 December where the same concerns were raised.
A summary of the decision was provided through the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 January and the letter sent to council leaders, both of which are publicly available.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking is to ensure that new homes are built to be flood resilient.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk (whether existing or in the future). Where development is necessary in such areas, the development should be made safe for its lifetime without increasing flood risk elsewhere.
The government is consulting on changes to the NPPF, including a dedicated chapter on planning for flood risk and coastal change. The consultation is open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
If it is found to be necessary to build homes in areas of flood risk, statutory guidance accompanying the Building Regulations promotes flood resilient building work in flood-prone areas, through Approved Document C which can be found on gov.uk here. This may include adequate sub-soil drainage; use of non-return valves and anti-flooding devices on sewers and drains; water resistant construction; and provision for inspection and clearance of sub-floor voids.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when they will set out a timescale for their review of agricultural permitted development rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under existing nationally set permitted development rights, farmers are already able to undertake specific development on their farms. Guidance on the rights in question is available on gov.uk here.
The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of rural exception site policy in securing affordable rented housing in perpetuity for local people in rural and coastal towns.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 57293 on 16 June 2025.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of initiating a formal review of legislation that allows certified exemption of small caravan and motorhome sites from planning permission.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under national permitted development rights, set out in Part 5, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, land can be used as a caravan site in certain circumstances. The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 30 June 2025 to Question 62866 on Neighbourhood Plans: Finance, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this policy on levels of council tax.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Precept levels are decided by parish councils, considering the needs of their community. The government expects parish councils to consider carefully the burden they are placing on local taxpayers.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing funding for the development of neighbourhood plans on parish councils.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the Spending Review we’ve looked at all the services and programmes the government supports to identify those that should now be in a position to support themselves without ongoing funding. After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we believe that support for neighbourhood planning groups should be possible without further government funding. Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish. With the end to the national structure for support, planning consultants should be able to innovate and offer groups lower cost support more targeted at their particular ambitions and needs.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 plans to take to help tackle the backlog in certificate of lawfulness appeals at the planning inspectorate.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate's Strategic Plan commits to removing all casework backlogs and meeting all Ministerial targets by 2027.
Casework including nationally significant infrastructure projects, local plan examinations, critical Secretary of State casework, appeals against refusal of planning permission and appeals against enforcement notices are currently being prioritised.
In addition, the Inspectorate has designed and developed a new digital Appeals Service currently in Beta phase. This new service improves the process for submitting appeals, including reducing the number of invalid appeals submitted. In turn, this reduces the number of validation checks required and is speeding up the time taken to validate appeals.
The new service has been expanded to cover all local planning authority areas.
The Planning Inspectorate is an Arm's Length Government Body with responsibility for allocation of resources, prioritisation and overall operational performance. The Inspectorate publishes updates on its performance on its website regularly.