Written questions by Hack.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered banning the issuance of Penalty Charge Notices on Airport land.

Penalty charge notices are reserved for local authorities, not the private land to which you refer. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the government to introduce a Code of Practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. Private parking facilities means facilities for the parking of vehicles on ‘Relevant Land’. ‘Relevant Land’ is defined at paragraph 3 schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012. Landowners, including airports, will be responsible to check if their land is in scope.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to Local Planning Authorities on allocating reserve sites in their local housing site plans that would only become operational when first-choice sites are unavailable when the building needs occur.

The government’s Planning Practice Guidance on housing and economic land availability assessment sets out how local planning authorities should identify and assess sites for their suitability for allocation in their Local Plans. Local planning authorities, through their local development plans, should establish a housing requirement figure for their whole area, which shows the extent to which their identified housing need can be met over the plan period. It is for individual local planning authorities to determine the most appropriate strategy to meet the housing needs of their area, and which sites are most suitable to meet their housing needs.They are expected to justify their approach through public consultation and independent examination of the Local Plan.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the size of the backlog of cases in front of the Planning Inspectorate's Rights of Way and Common Land Decision Service in each month since 1 January 2020.

Based on the targets described below, the number of open cases over non-statutory targets each month is as follows:Month (end of)Number of open cases over non-statutory target Rights of WayCommon LandJan-20463Feb-20485Mar-20524Apr-20574May-20696Jun-20719Jul-20767Aug-20786Sep-207613Oct-209011Nov-209311Dec-209112Jan-219712Feb-21937Mar-211088Apr-2110210May-2110712Jun-2111311Jul-211199Aug-2112211Sep-2111610Oct-211066Nov-211007Dec-21944Jan-22976Feb-22958Mar-221089Apr-221168May-2212510Jun-221339Jul-221248Aug-221175Sep-221159Oct-2211610Nov-221218Dec-221289Jan-2312811Feb-2312812Mar-2314414Apr-2315015May-2314413Jun-2313914Jul-2313411Aug-231439Sep-2314712Oct-2315412Nov-2315013Dec-2315910Jan-2414812Feb-2414910Mar-2413317Apr-2413222May-2413620Jun-2413223Jul-2413324Aug-2413423Sep-2412823Oct-2412426Nov-2413233Dec-2413131Jan-2512735Feb-2513733Mar-2515434Apr-2515935 “Backlog” in this context is usually understood to refer to the number of cases which are over statutory deadlines. There are no statutory targets for Rights of Way and Common Land decisions. However, non-statutory targets are as follows: Non-statutory targets for Rights of Way decisionProcedureOpposed ordersSchedule 14 appealsSchedule 14 directionsWritten representations37 weeks30 weeks21 weeksHearings39 weeks39 weeksN/AInquiries45 weeks45 weeksN/A ProcedureNon-statutory targets for Common Land decisionWritten representationsIn-house (no Inspector) no objections - 18 weeks In-house objections - 26 weeks Inspector cases - 40 weeksHearings40 weeksInquiries40 weeks Due to limitations in the data storage, the inspector cases target (40 weeks) has been applied to all Common Land decisions by Written representation for the purposes of this answer.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of Casework Officers employed in the Planning Inspectorate's Rights of Way and Common Land Decision Service in each of the last 10 years.

The Planning Inspectorate does not hold historical information on case officers broken down by casework. However, the tracking of this information has commenced from the start of the financial year 2025/26.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of requiring developers to use sustainable urban drainage systems in new developments.

The government is committed to securing the delivery of high-quality sustainable drainage systems to help manage flood risk and adapt to the effects of climate change. The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 amended an existing paragraph regarding incorporating sustainable drainage systems in new development to make clear that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. We will consider whether further changes are required to manage sustainable drainage systems provision through the planning system when we consult on further reform. National Planning Guidance is clear that local authorities should be satisfied that all Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems have clear maintenance and adoption arrangements in place for the lifetime of a development.

Communities and Local Government, how many applications the Land Registry has received in each month since January 2020.

The table below outlines the number of applications HM Land Registry has received in each month since January 2020. These include register change applications that are a legal requirement and occur at the very end of a property transaction, after stamp duty land tax has been paid and the property has exchanged hands. The table also shows the number of guaranteed information service requests received each month. These take place before a property has exchanged hands and provide essential information and a state guarantee, offering protection to purchasers, lenders and their professional representatives, which enables the property market to function. HM Land Registry also provides a range of other services that inform the property market, and information about these has been included after the below table for wider context. MonthRegister Change ApplicationsGuaranteed Information ServicesTotal ApplicationsJan-20436,3371,804,1102,240,447Feb-20386,6861,799,0182,185,704Mar-20389,9881,653,2372,043,225Apr-20261,3941,015,9321,277,326May-20228,219952,5031,180,722Jun-20279,5921,423,1471,702,739Jul-20323,9881,717,8402,041,828Aug-20301,8601,602,6901,904,550Sep-20341,7051,823,3762,165,081Oct-20362,8561,904,6832,267,539Nov-20370,8081,819,9092,190,717Dec-20365,0701,449,7061,814,776Jan-21361,5451,661,0312,022,576Feb-21362,0591,788,8582,150,917Mar-21467,1082,166,3082,633,416Apr-21439,2241,861,8682,301,092May-21382,4251,834,8602,217,285Jun-21440,8341,996,2142,437,048Jul-21484,8181,858,4132,343,231Aug-21374,0571,712,7972,086,854Sep-21404,0931,852,6702,256,763Oct-21437,0121,804,0202,241,032Nov-21417,7391,870,1522,287,891Dec-21372,2061,395,6531,767,859Jan-22409,0191,744,3412,153,360Feb-22380,2001,884,2142,264,414Mar-22444,1672,151,8452,596,012Apr-22395,0231,759,2462,154,269May-22419,3102,006,0892,425,399Jun-22383,8541,858,4512,242,305Jul-22415,1681,894,0142,309,182Aug-22429,0681,924,7552,353,823Sep-22408,1301,859,3542,267,484Oct-22438,9461,868,0482,306,994Nov-22474,6761,854,0162,328,692Dec-22374,3131,274,9571,649,270Jan-23444,2331,703,1172,138,986Feb-23357,3611,744,7352,102,096Mar-23401,5002,030,8412,432,341Apr-23335,3021,582,3981,917,700May-23342,6451,753,8412,096,486Jun-23361,5121,941,2662,305,260Jul-23378,1011,834,4782,212,579Aug-23363,4621,738,0952,101,557Sep-23396,2081,711,4222,107,630Oct-23366,7381,820,9262,187,664Nov-23357,9421,823,1472,181,089Dec-23309,8371,264,7301,574,567Jan-24377,8851,890,1242,268,009Feb-24335,0221,937,5782,272,600Mar-24330,5701,873,2862,203,856Apr-24369,9931,984,8272,351,240May-24360,2901,995,9112,353,695Jun-24332,4501,869,6582,199,983Jul-24408,4172,133,4522,539,834Aug-24359,1071,897,2292,256,336Sep-24348,7651,980,0592,328,824Oct-24403,3272,208,7822,612,109Nov-24402,6171,947,2302,349,847Dec-24348,7931,454,6601,803,453Jan-25375,4831,900,7412,276,224Feb-25350,8631,828,6572,179,520Mar-25379,2331,993,9282,373,161 In addition, there has been increasing demand for other service types. The table below shows the additional service requests HM Land Registry receives annually as per HM Land Registry’s Annual Report and Accounts. Other Service requestsFY 2019/20FY2023/21FY2021/22FY2022/23FY2023/24Bulk Register updates971,542281,5751,380,627144,339169,527Enquiry Services6,592,0316,575,5327,044,7476,701,8066,677,023Correspondence305,755214,430194,194163,059161,264Telephone enquiries989,047571,448851,812714,140209,037MapSearch downloads1,181,4831,052,5651,104,1511,085,4701,130,523Search for land and property information 1,909,25911,007,46917,576,354Title view 5,242,141Total other service requests10,039,8588,695,55012,484,79019,816,94431,165,869

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) recruit more Land Registry caseworkers and (b) reduce backlogs in the Land Registry application system.

HM Land Registry (HMLR) has recruited over 3,300 new staff in the last five years. It has made significant progress in reducing waiting times for applicants. The age of outstanding post-completion applications is now under 12 months across all service lines, from a peak of 20 months in February 2023. HMLR is committed to building on this progress by further expanding its capacity and capability. Through the automation of administrative processes, its staff will be freed to focus on more complex tasks that require their expertise. HMLR is also continually enhancing its digital customer services, with innovations like pre-submission application checks, designed to support customers and improve the quality of applications. Together, these initiatives will drive down delays, reduce the number of outstanding post-completion applications, and provide an overall better experience for customers. HMLR acknowledges that some customers may not yet feel the full impact of these improvements. If a delay to an application may cause financial, legal, or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, it can be expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,400 expedited applications every day, with more than 95% of these processed within 10 working days.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce backlogs of cases before the Planning Inspectorate.

The Planning Inspectorate has been performing well across a number of key areas such as local plan examinations, nationally significant infrastructure project applications, s62a applications and planning appeals proceeding by hearings and inquiries. It is, for example:meeting all statutory timeframes for national infrastructure applications;increasingly deciding planning appeals by hearing and inquiry in around 26 weeks (the ministerial measure), having already cleared a backlog of casework; andbeginning to decide enforcement appeals by hearing and inquiry in around 26 weeks (the ministerial measure) for the first time in many years, as it clears a long-standing backlog of casework.The Inspectorate is implementing actions to maintain performance in these areas and to improve end-to-end times for other casework such as those cases decided after a written exchange of evidence. In the short term those actions are focused around increasing capacity by:increasing the available capacity for inspectors/other decision makers by recruiting more. The Inspectorate has significantly increased the number of inspectors it employs over the past 18 months and is on track to recruit additional inspectors later this year;using contract (non-salaried) inspectors to the full extent of their availability and expanding the range of casework they determine; and training inspectors to handle different casework to increase flexibility; andmoving more inspectors onto enforcement written representations casework in Spring 2025 once the work on improving hearings performance has progressed further.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 will speed up the time taken to validate appeals. The new service has been expanded to cover all local planning authority areas. Later this year the existing website will be closed so that all new appeals are submitted via the new service.