The Bittern

Stephen Williams Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Stephen Williams)]

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr Denham) on securing the debate. I also congratulate him on the constructive way in which he has spoken this evening, and the constructive way in which he engaged with us on an informal basis beforehand. I fully understand both his own frustration and the frustration that he has expressed on behalf of his constituents, and I can say to him, as one constituency Member of Parliament to another, that I understand that frustration for a very good reason. A similar issue arose six years ago in my constituency involving the Ashley Court hotel in St Andrews. Although the local Member of Parliament, both the local councillors and the entire local community did not want the pub to close, they were powerless to prevent it from being sold to a property developer. It was subsequently demolished, and is now a block of flats.

I want to describe some of the work that the Government are doing in recognition of the important role that pubs play in the community, to which the right hon. Gentleman referred several times, but let me first echo his thanks to my hon. Friends the Members for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) and for Burton (Andrew Griffiths), both of whom do a great deal of good work with Members on both sides of the House in raising the issue of pubs in the community—and, indeed, the price of beer. As always, that subject featured on Budget day, when the Chancellor scrapped the beer duty escalator as well as cutting beer duty, shaving 4p off the average pint. The right hon. Gentleman will know how difficult negotiations with the Treasury can be, but on this occasion even the Treasury was helpful to pubs.

The Government have also made it easier for pubs to host live music performances, so that they can provide the entertainment which, the right hon. Gentleman told us, takes place in The Bittern, and have extended the doubling of small business rate relief from October 2010 to March 2014.

The main issues raised by the right hon. Gentleman concerned the rights conferred by the Localism Act 2011. I am grateful to him for paying tribute to the Government for implementing ideas which I understand that he may have supported when he was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government three or four years ago. These are early days: the Act is still very new, and the community rights conferred by it have existed only since September last year. However, as I told the House on another occasion when dealing with a similar issue relating to high streets, more than 550 assets have so far been listed by communities across England as assets of community value, and I know that the list is growing daily. I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman follows his former Department on Twitter, but if he were to do so, he would see that nearly every day another asset is added to the local register. The Department is pleased to acknowledge the work that is being done by communities throughout the country.

The Campaign for Real Ale, to which the right hon. Gentleman referred, has been very active in this regard. Yesterday I met representatives of CAMRA and other organisations with which the Department wants to work in order to promote community rights such as this. CAMRA has produced its own leaflet explaining how to help communities that want to promote their local pubs as an asset of community value, and I commend it for doing so. Many pubs have exercised these community rights. The first asset to be listed was The Ivy House pub in Nunhead, which is in the constituency of the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman). There are many other examples. There is a long list on the CAMRA website. The Rose and Crown in Slaley in Hexham has now been purchased by the community. Not only was it registered as an asset, but it has gone on to be purchased. The Anglers Rest in Bamford in the Peak district is now a community-owned pub. Across the country communities have been able to take advantage of this legislation, not only to preserve the pub in their community but to take on the ownership and management.

The Government have given real practical support to bring this about. There is not just legislation. We have put £19 million on the table to support partners such as Pub is the Hub and the Plunkett Foundation, so they can engage with communities and make sure they know what these rights are and how to exercise them.

This right has to balance the rights of the community with those of the owners of the property. Getting something on to the register does not automatically give communities the assets they want. Indeed, this was never the Government’s intention. Judging by the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks, he understands that in a free society we cannot completely fetter the property rights of someone who owns the pub, however objectionable we might think their business practices are. The community rights bid does give communities a better chance to bid for an asset they value in their local community, however. The scheme does not restrict what the owner can do with their property even if it has been listed.

The right hon. Gentleman talked about planning policy, and he mentioned change of use. The Government have set out a clear and consistent set of objectives for planning reform. We want local communities to exercise power and to promote sustainable development, but permitted development rights have existed in the planning system for a long time. As a councillor in Bristol for the city centre district in the mid-1990s, I campaigned for a reform in the planning use classes at that time, when pubs and restaurant were together in the A3 use class. Fortunately, later on that use class was divided into A3 and A4, and pubs sit in the A4 use class. That means that under permitted development rights pubs can go up from A4 to A3—and I believe McDonald’s would be classified as a restaurant—although planning permission may be required for associated building works.

The right hon. Gentleman referred several times to article 4. Local planning authorities can achieve objectives outside the use class system by bringing forward an article 4 direction, and this can be used to protect community assets such as public houses. In the last year three planning authorities have made directions under article 4 specifically to control the development of public houses. Two of these directions have been used to prevent demolition, and the third is in regard to a change of use.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about the geographical extent of an article 4 direction. It can be as specific as a single piece of land and a single building, or it can be across the entire local authority area—Southampton in his case. He also asked about costs that might be visited upon the planning authority. Because an article 4 direction reduces the normal planning rights of a property owner, if they subsequently have to apply for planning permission because of an article 4 directive, they do not have to pay a planning fee. To that extent, there is indeed a cost to the local authority.

Thirdly, the right hon. Gentleman asked me whether compensation would be payable. The advice I have for him is that that possibility can be mitigated if a planning authority gives sufficient notice. Indeed, Bristol has recently brought in an article 4 direction to control the spread of houses in multiple occupation and it gave 12 months’ notice. Over the past two years, 270 article 4 directions have taken place. He also asked about guidance on article 4, and the Department has been moving on that. A review of guidance was undertaken by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor and that has been published online for comments. The period for those closed in October and the Department is considering what more to do.

I entirely sympathise with the points that the right hon. Gentleman was making. I was glad that he paid tribute to the community rights that have been put in place, and I am sorry that on this occasion they were not able to help his constituents. However, the Government do want to work with organisations such as CAMRA and others that want to protect the use of the pub and other community assets. Our message is not to wait for a threat but to move now. That is what CAMRA is advising its members up and down the country to do. We are saying, “Do not wait for a threat. Move now to list your asset of community value.” That will provide the protection that the Localism Act affords.

Question put and agreed to.