Every parliamentary written question tabled by Blake Stephenson this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 201–220 of 321 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 37781 on Voting Rights: Young People, whether her Department plans to instruct the Boundary Commissions to perform an early boundary review of Parliamentary Constituencies to ensure electoral equality at the General Election 2029 with the addition of voters aged 16 and 17.
The Government has no plans to amend the timing of the next Parliamentary Boundary Review.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, where the houses will be located.
At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. Homes England and GLA will assess bids received in the usual way before awarding funding. Exact funding to different places and the locations of homes that will be built will depend on the bids received from local authorities and housing associations. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership. We have asked HE, GLA and bidders to prioritise homes for social rent, and will publish the number of homes delivered at each tenure in an annual report to Parliament. Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme within the framework of legislation. By law, people who are homeless must be given ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) and local authorities can give ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to those who have urgent housing needs.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March to Question 38446 on Environmental Delivery Plans, whether Natural England will be required to pay for ongoing maintenance of conservation projects.
Natural England will secure and deliver conservation measures as part of an Environmental Delivery Plan to address the environmental impact of the development in question. Conservation measures will be maintained for as long as is necessary to address the relevant development impact, funded by the levy. In some cases, this may mean funding and securing measures for several decades or permanently.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36225 on New Towns: Mid Bedfordshire, if she will make it her policy to inform Rt hon. and hon. Members of a new town proposal in their constituency before publicly disclosing such information.
The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36228 on Housing: Construction, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing (a) a housing supply forecast and (b) projected profiles of housing delivery every (i) month, (ii) quarter) and (iii) year.
The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions. The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here. Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here. The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35438 on Tree Preservation Orders: Bedfordshire, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that locally held records like Tree Protection Orders are not lost during Local Government reorganisation.
The implementation of local government reorganisation will be a matter for local authorities to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation and establish new unitary authorities. It is essential that councils continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties, which remain unchanged up until such time as the reorganisation process is complete.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36221 on Housing: construction, whether she plans to issue guidance to local authorities on density.
The National Planning Policy Framework is supportive of development that makes efficient use of land and makes clear that local development plans should include the use of minimum density standards to that ends. I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36221 on 14 March 2025.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36223 on Housing: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for policy-making of collecting that information.
The government will keep the matter under review.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36227 on New Towns, whether any sites submitted as part of the call for evidence are in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.
Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase levels of data sharing between developers and local authorities.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) runs a Digital Planning Programme which aims to enable a modern and efficient planning system in England. Core objectives of the Programme include providing better access to planning data, improving data quality, and making data more open. We are delivering on these objectives through the Planning Data platform, which will continue to expand the availability of standardised and open data on planning.data.gov.uk to drive the creation of new tools and services that share planning data (including making more data accessible to developers) and enable improved monitoring of planning outcomes.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Impact Note on removal of eligibility of private schools for business rates charitable relief, published on 30 October 2024, for what reasons the Government did not model the impact on economic growth.
Policies and legislation concerning tax and tax administration fall outside the meaning of regulatory provisions and, therefore, are not required to be accompanied by an Impact Assessment. Nevertheless, the government has conducted detailed analysis of the effects of business rates changes using the available Department for Education and Valuation Office Agency data. The impact note published on 13 November 2024, alongside the introduction of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill, provides detailed analysis of the average business rates change per pupil for private schools; distributional analysis by region, religious ethos, and pupil population; as well as anticipated pupil movements, associated costs, and equalities impacts. The methodology for calculating the cost of this change has been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. The estimation of impacts, such as pupil movements, follows from that methodology. The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the measures relating to private schools.
Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute for Public Policy Research's report entitled Strategic planning for green prosperity, published on 14 February 2025.
The government has not made an assessment of the potential implications of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s report in question.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of new homes built to high standards of environmental resilience by 2030; and what proportion of existing housebuilding projects are meeting these standards.
MHCLG has already taken a number of steps to deliver climate resilient homes, including:Revising the National Planning Policy Framework (published on 12 December 2024) to set out that the planning system should take full account of all climate impacts, including overheating, storm and flood risk. Planning should help to shape places in a way that minimises vulnerability and improves resilience to the effects of climate change though suitable adaptation measures, including through incorporating green infrastructure and sustainable drainagesystems.Building regulations are intended to protect people’s safety, health and welfare through setting a minimum acceptable standard for the design and construction of properties. Introducing Part O of the Building Regulations, which came into force in June 2022, to require that new homes are built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Whilst Approved Document C promotes the use of flood resilient and resistant construction in flood prone areas.
Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of AXA’s report entitled Extreme weather risks: An analysis of England’s vulnerability to flooding and heat.
Under the Third National Adaptation Plan, MHCLG has shared responsibility with Defra and DESNZ for addressing risks to buildings from extreme heat and flooding.On overheating, MHCLG introduced Part O of the Building Regulations in 2021, which requires that new buildings are built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Part O came into force in June 2022.On flooding, statutory guidance to the Building Regulations in Approved Document C, already promotes the use of flood resilient and resistant construction in flood prone areas.The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 also sets out that the planning system should take full account of all climate impacts, including overheating, storm and flood risk. Planning should help to ensure that development minimises vulnerability and improves resilience to the effects of climate change.
Communities and Local Government, if she will provide guidance to councils on balancing the needs for (a) new housing and (b) nature recovery.
As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Sustainable development should be pursued both through the preparation and implementation of local development plans, and the application of policies in the framework. Paragraph 187 of the Framework also makes clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment. The revised NPPF published on 12 December 2024 included several changes designed to enhance and protect the environment. For example, it expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats, and hedgehogs. Local Nature Recovery Strategies are being prepared across England to set out priorities for nature recovery, map important habitats and identify opportunities for improvements. The government recently updated its Planning Practice Guidance to explain the role of Local Nature Recovery Strategies in the planning system and made clear as part of that update that these strategies will form an evidence base which may be a material consideration when making planning decisions. When it comes to development and the environment, we know we can do better than the status quo, which too often sees both sustainable housebuilding and nature recovery stall. Instead of environmental protections being seen as a barrier to growth, we want to unlock a win-win for the economy and for nature. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce a new Nature Restoration Fund that will unlock and accelerate development while going beyond simply offsetting harm to unlock the positive impact development can have in driving nature recovery.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,on the potential impact of removing the Theatres Trust as a statutory consultee on the creative industries.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the Theatres Trust as a statutory consultee on the creative industries.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing Sport England as a statutory consultee on grassroots sport.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).
Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the removal of Sport England as a statutory consultee on new sports facilities.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).
Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of green space maintenance standards by developers after the construction of new housing developments.
National design guidance supports the National Planning Policy Framework and emphasises the importance of considering management and maintenance regimes, including for open and public spaces, from the early stages of the design process, set out in a management plan.