Speeches by Cocking.

“3. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support the adoption of new technologies in the workplace.”

“There are no two ways about it: this is a surrender Bill with no benefits to my Broxbourne constituents. Ministers have shamefully attempted to hide the shocking cost of this deal from the British people and the public at large. When the new Labour Government took office, they kept telling us in this Chamber about the …”

“No, I will not give way. There have been lots of interventions, and I am fed up with the same interventions coming from the same Labour Members. Quite frankly it does not help the debate—just because they say something several times does not make it true. The Bill is costing us financially, but it also has security ris…”

“We have all been told repeatedly that the Government’s plan for local government will improve local services and save the taxpayer money, but it is increasingly clear that the Bill fails to deliver on those points. This is a forced, top-down change from Westminster that will abolish effective local councils and strip l…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I commend the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this important debate. I want to focus on a local charity in my constituency, Hearts for Herts. In 2017, my constituent Justin Honey-Jones, an experienced paramedic, began the missi…”

“It is clear that the Government have lost control. The Government are going against their own election manifesto by taking the issue through the courts. I have asked this question before but not had an answer, so I ask it again: can the Home Secretary give me a date when the hotel in my constituency of Broxbourne will …”

“Last month, the Immigration Minister could not tell me in a written answer how many illegal asylum seekers have a criminal record. We have an asylum hotel in Cheshunt in my constituency, and my constituents are understandably concerned about criminal activity and antisocial behaviour. They do not think that the Governm…”

“Just to slightly push back on that, local plans are 15‑year periods, so some development that is allocated in the local plan will be at the end of that, so that is not really an argument—”

“You have significantly increased the targets for local authorities. Say a local authority gets a new town as well. Do you think that is fair that it has to do both of those, or, if it is getting a new town, should that not compensate it having to do a local plan and everything else as well? Otherwise, you are going to …”

“Minister, I know you like to reflect.”

“Even if they are, I have a number of examples in my own constituency. We have an up-to-date local plan and things will win on appeal, even though they do not meet loads of local plan policies.”

“You seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on local plans and local plan policies. Are you going to change the guidance to the planning inspectors so they do not approve development that is not local plan compliant? There are a number of examples, probably from across the country, where development comes forward, gets ap…”

“You said that there is no simple answer, but there is. You could legislate and say that you must build infrastructure first for any new housing that is built. You must build the school, GPs and roads before you build any houses. That is a simple solution. You could choose to do that.”

“The biggest player that does not get round the table is the national health service. It is very difficult to get it round the table in terms of the negotiation. What does it need when you are planning a new development and going through that local plan process? To plan a new doctors surgery or even get the NHS round th…”

“When an applicant comes forward to get outline planning permission, they go through the process, set out what they are going to do with the 106 agreement, and councillors vote on that basis. They always come back when they require full planning permission, change that 106 negotiation and say, “It is not viable anymore.…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, the MP for Broxbourne.”

“rose—”

“T10. Will the Minister outline what new planning powers could be provided to local councils to ensure that my local communities in Broxbourne can say no to houses in multiple occupation—HMOs—where they are not wanted?”

“rose—”

“Can the Minister outline for the Committee, where these powers will sit, once councils have gone through devolution talks and appointed metro mayors? Will they still sit with the unitary councils, or will they go to the metro mayor? Can the Minister explain where the powers will sit when they get a new devolution agree…”