Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to clause 23 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, whether he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on developing an understanding of the armed forces among young people in schools.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of the Department for Education (DfE) in increasing understanding and appreciation of our Armed Forces in young people. Ministers and officials from the MOD have met with colleagues in the DfE and discussed how a formal curriculum could be part of their ongoing curriculum review. Both departments have also discussed the vital work of Cadet Forces in schools, membership of which is proven to help develop self-confidence, teamwork, leadership and resilience in young people. Our ongoing discussions with the DfE are crucial to implementing the Cadet ‘30 in 30’ scheme under which this Government is investing £70 million to add 40,000 new Cadets across the UK by 2030.
The Strategic Defence Review is clear on the need for a whole of society approach to defence and the ongoing relationship between the MOD and the DfE is a key component of that plan. The Armed Forces enjoy good relationships with schools, primarily in terms of engagement to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) curriculum areas but this also extends to careers engagement. The Armed Forces only visit when they have been invited by a school to support activities and such visits cover a range of activities such as career events, citizenship talks, science and maths challenges and exercises.
Regarding the recruitment of young people, it is important to note that the Armed Forces do not target recruitment activity at under-16s, and no visits to schools by the Armed Forces are directly linked to recruitment, other than specific Careers/Jobs Fairs which generally involve a range of employers. While presentations may be given highlighting the careers available in the Armed Forces, no pupil is ever signed up or able to make a commitment to become a recruit in the Armed Forces during the course of a visit.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether those from white British, Irish Traveller or white Irish backgrounds are eligible to apply for the MI5 and Secret Intelligence Service summer internship schemes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office noted in the written answer to a question from the Hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds on 30 January 2025, details of MI5 and SIS internship schemes and their eligibility criteria are publicly available on their respective websites. Across Government, individual Departments and Agencies are responsible for recruitment decisions and required to meet all obligations of relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010.
These internships are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in the UK intelligence community to individuals who have particular skills and expertise, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds currently under-represented in the intelligence services workforce.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) help tackle potential civil service recruitment barriers for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027 outlines our commitment to having a Civil Service that reflects the composition of our society, attracting, retaining and investing in talent wherever it is found. This includes better socio-economic representation and investing in our young people.
We have recently launched a two year Careers Launch Apprenticeship scheme in Birmingham, Manchester and London, to support our young people. In addition, the Cabinet Office develops and supports Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) recruitment pathways across government. GFiE brings people who face barriers to employment into the Civil Service. There are over 20 GFiE pathways in place and over 3,600 people have joined the Civil Service through GFiE since 2018. These are just two of the ways in which we demonstrate our ambition regarding underrepresented backgrounds.
Diversity data is collected from candidates during the recruitment process and made available to departments to support their people strategies.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how her Department monitors whether contributions from agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 are spent (a) within agreed timeframes and (b) on the purposes specified in those agreements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively.
The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations.
On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment.
Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable.
Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will require local planning authorities to publish (a) agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and (b) related compliance information in (i) standardised and (ii) accessible formats.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively.
The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations.
On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment.
Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable.
Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local planning authorities have adequate resources to (a) negotiate, (b) monitor and (c) enforce agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively.
The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations.
On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment.
Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable.
Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) urban design and (b) architecture skills in local planning authorities; and what steps she is taking to improve those skills.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what additional funding she plans to provide to planning departments in local authorities in 2025-26.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 has taken to increase local planning capacity.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent evaluation his Department has made of the adequacy of the Disability Confident scheme’s conversion rate from interview to appointment for disabled applicants across government departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) is to ensure that disabled candidates are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills at interview. Of those who applied for a vacancy using the Civil Service Jobs website in the approximately five year period 2019-2024:
c.13% of applicants applied under the DCS
c.12% of candidates who were invited to interview had applied under DCS
c.9% of applicants who were successful at interview had applied under DCS
The Department for Work and Pensions is continuing to explore whether any reforms to the criteria for DCS are needed.