Oral Answers to Questions

Tessa Munt Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Angela Rayner]

I commend all those who fought wildfires over the summer, and the right hon. Gentleman is right to recognise that the personal protective equipment that firefighters need is different in those circumstances. That is why we have put in £45 million extra for equipment, on top of the £97 million. We are working to ensure that our firefighters have the equipment that they need, and of course we announced aerial support, too.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

Councils spend far more on enforcing against a breach of planning controls than the offender is ever fined—and even then, that money goes to the Treasury. When it is cheaper to break rules than follow them, we lose any sense of deterrence, and there is a perception that breaches have few consequences. Will the Minister look again at the amount of fines, and at whether councils could receive the proceeds of fines, so that they can recover their costs?

[Matthew Pennycook]

Would the hon. Lady write to me with some further details, to illustrate the precise problem she is trying to get at?