Written questions by Stephenson.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government on the potential merits of requiring arboricultural (a) reports and (b) impact assessments for all major developments.

We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to explore what options are available to improve the implementation of the NPPF regarding ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 6 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday's report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, published on 27 August 2024, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of planning officers' specialist arboricultural expertise.

We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to explore what options are available to improve the implementation of the NPPF regarding ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 3 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday's report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, published on 27 August 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the paragraph on Identification of ancient and veteran status.

We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to explore what options are available to improve the implementation of the NPPF regarding ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 3 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday's report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, published on 27 August 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations on compensation strategies.

We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to explore what options are available to improve the implementation of the NPPF regarding ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 3 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday's report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, published on 27 August 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations on mitigation strategies.

We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to explore what options are available to improve the implementation of the NPPF regarding ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, how often the Ancient Woodland Inventory is audited.

The Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) was originally surveyed in the 1980s. Counties in the south-east of England were reviewed and updated between 2005 and 2015. The AWI is currently being audited with 35 counties in England being reassessed and where necessary boundaries are being redrawn to reflect changes in land use. Nine county revisions have been completed and published as the Revised Ancient Woodland Inventory (England). The remaining 26 counties are expected to be published over the coming months. Natural England also has a process in place to amend the AWI on a site-by-site basis where evidence for a change is supplied. You can find the original dataset here: Ancient Woodland (England) - data.gov.uk and updated and audited counties are being published here: Ancient Woodland - Revised (England) - Completed Counties.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025, Official Report, columns 3 and 4, what her Department's policy is on whether housing supplied pursuant to a New Towns Taskforce recommendation can be included in a local authority’s Five year housing land supply calculation.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025, Official Report, column 4, if she will set out the incentives her Department will offer to local authorities for new towns.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled New Towns Taskforce: Terms of Reference, published on 18 September 2024, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of New Towns Taskforce’s performance in engaging with (a) central government, (b) local government and (c) external stakeholders under paragraph 6(b) of those terms of reference.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025, Official Report, columns 3 and 4, whether the New Towns Taskforce can recommend more than one new town in a local authority area.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025, Official Report, columns 3 and 4, for what reasons her Department has not discussed the suitability of potential locations for new towns with the New Towns Taskforce.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025, Official Report, columns 3 and 4, what her Department's policy is on whether local authorities that accept new towns will be subject to the duty to co-operate for local plans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Minister for Housing and Planning's oral contribution of 3 March 2025 in response to a Question from the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire, Official Report, columns 3 and 4, if she will publish guidance on what would happen if a local planning authority was unable to meet its housing target due to construction of a new town on its available sustainable development area.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

What steps he will take to support mental health services for children in Bedfordshire.

We know that waits for children and young people's (CYP) mental health services are far too long, including in Bedfordshire. That is why the NHS planning guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that one of the priorities for children's mental health services is to reduce inequalities in access to CYP mental health services. The Government will also recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services and provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. Early intervention and prevention support in the community is vital. That is why we are providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health services for children in Bedfordshire.

We know that waits for children and young people's (CYP) mental health services are far too long, including in Bedfordshire. That is why the NHS planning guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that one of the priorities for children's mental health services is to reduce inequalities in access to CYP mental health services. The Government will also recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services and provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. Early intervention and prevention support in the community is vital. That is why we are providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Government unveils plans for next generation of new towns, published on 13 February 2025, how the £20 million to help transform neglected small-scale council-owned sites into new homes for areas most in need will be distributed.

This funding will be made available through the next round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund. Further details on the application process and funding criteria will be announced in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Government unveils plans for next generation of new towns, published 13 February 2025, whether the £51.5m funding to increase regeneration and brownfield delivery is additional to funding outlined at the Autumn Budget 2024.

The £51.5 million package announced on 13 February 2025 is additional to the funding outlined at the Autumn Budget 2024.

With reference to her Department’s news story entitled, Lights, Camera, Action! 40% business rates relief for film studios rolled out, published on 16 February 2025, whether her announcement on film business rates of 16 February 2025 is in addition to fiscal measures outlined in Autumn Budget 2024.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties, including film studios, with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above.The Government has announced that it is proceeding with 40 per cent relief for eligible film studios in England on their gross business rates bills until March 2034. The costing was published at Spring Budget 2024.Business rates bills are calculated by applying the relevant multiplier first and so film studios will receive 40 per cent relief on their total liability.The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the amount of land in hectares which has an active planning permission.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make a comparative assessment of the cumulative housing target for (a) Tower Hamlets, (b) Broxtowe, (c) Nottingham, (d) Greenwich, (e) Oldham and (f) Tameside under (i) the new housing targets and (ii) the housing targets under the previous system.

The government published the revised standard method for assessing local housing need on 12 December 2024. This aligns with our ambition for 1.5 million new homes to be delivered over this parliament and better directs new homes to where they are most needed and least affordable. The new standard method supports a more strategic approach to housing growth, distributing growth across wider city regions, and not just to the largest urban authority within our largest cities, as was the case under the previous method. Further detail on the new standard method is set out in the government’s response to the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation and the revised Planning Practice Guidance on housing and economic needs assessments. These are available on gov.uk. Local housing need figures for each local authority and region arising from the revised standard method can be found here.