Written questions by MacCleary.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving local councils compulsory purchase powers for stalled development sites with planning permission.

Local authorities already have various compulsory purchase powers to acquire and develop land which could include stalled development sites with planning permission. The Government is keen for authorities to make greater use of their compulsory purchase powers to support the regeneration and growth of their areas where appropriate, provided there is a compelling case in the public interest. To assist local authorities in using their powers, this Government has recently published updated guidance on the compulsory purchase process reforms introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. This can be found at here.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to require landlords to work with councils to bring decontaminated land back into use.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements in planning policies and decisions, and that opportunities should be taken to remediate despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated or unstable land.As part of our recent consultation on reforms to the Framework, we set out proposals to broaden the existing definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and make clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas. On 22 September we published a ‘brownfield passport’ policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.

How many teachers are currently employed by colleges; and what proportion of those have been included in the 5.5% pay increase.

Information on the further education (FE) workforce, including numbers of teaching staff employed in the sector, is published in the ‘Further education workforce’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-workforce.For the 2022/23 academic year, the total number of teaching staff in general FE colleges, including tertiary and sixth form colleges in England, is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2c50762e-50c3-4b6f-a8da-08dce6ed00e6.The government does not set or recommend pay in FE. The pay and conditions of FE staff remains the responsibility of individual colleges and providers, who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of raising the level of Penalty Charge Notices on the number of parking offenders outside London.

We have no current plans to raise the PCN levels. It is important to strike the right balance between deterrence and fairness on this issue.

If he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the availability of cycling infrastructure on employment levels.

Investment in cycling is crucial to supporting the economy, with recent evidence indicating that 3.6%, or over a million people, usually cycle to work and contributes about £5.4 billion to the British economy annually, with £4.1 billion resulting from reductions in mortality, pollution and congestion. The average benefit-cost ratio for Active Travel Fund 4 estimated that for every £1 of investment in active travel infrastructure schemes, there would be a return £2.40 of economic, social, and environmental benefits. Building on this evidence, Active Travel England is delivering a national active travel evaluation that will seek to include a proportionate assessment of the impact of active travel investment on employment.