Speeches by Cocking.

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It says that the Minister expects that money to be put into the system to make the system better. Why has he done that in this case when he did not support the amendment doing it?”

“Will the Minister elaborate on why he did not support amendment 80, which we have just discussed, on planning fees going to local councils to resource planning departments? What is the difference between that and him saying to Scottish Ministers under this clause that they can charge a fee, but that it has to go to the…”

“The Minister talks about energy security and bringing down bills, and of course we need to have more renewables online to do that, but we also need to issue new oil and gas licences so that we can produce more energy at home. That would help with what he is suggesting.”

“Q How will that affect the timeframe? I suppose the Government want projects to happen quickly, but you are now saying that there is another process to go through, so can you explain how that will affect the timeframe of projects? Beatrice Filkin: What we set out in the decision last week sets off the piece of work tha…”

“Q I want to come back to something you said at the beginning, Jack—I probably should say that I am still a local councillor until 1 May. You basically said that no one engages with the planning system, or that the public—constituents—do not engage with it. What evidence do you have to suggest that? I would slightly pus…”

“Q Sorry; yes. We have spoken about local plans and outline planning permission, and I will link those two together. There is a lot of consultation around development that comes forward, and the public in the area buy into it, because it is almost like it is painted in gold. The developers say that they can deliver all …”

“I would like to ask a few questions—”

“Q How do you determine what should get priority and what should not? Beatrice Filkin: We have set out in our decision the way in which NESO should assess the queue. They will use the information that we set out last week—that guidance—to implement and take each individual project, weigh it up against the criteria, deci…”

“Q It will not be Ministers deciding what projects get priority and come forward; it will be Ofgem. Beatrice Filkin: We have made a decision about the way in which NESO now prioritises the queue. They are doing that going forward. Our decision-making process was finished last week. That is the process by which they make…”

“Q I will follow up with some questions to Ofgem. You said earlier that we are moving from a first come, first served system to one where somebody is going to determine what should take priority and what should come before something else. Who is going to make that determination? Beatrice Filkin: What has happened to dat…”

“I am a Hertfordshire county councillor until 1 May.”

“I do not agree.”

“I am Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne. I am also still a Hertfordshire county councillor.”

“Is this not just over-complicating the system? We are saying to the Treasury, “We can put the future tax income that you are going to get towards this debt”. Why do we not get the Treasury to fund the infrastructure anyway? They are getting the stamp duty. Are we not just creating another level of bureaucracy to go thr…”

“I will move on to viability. Let us just set some context here. There is lots of unspent 106 money, because there is never enough 106 money given. Once the council gets the 106 money, it is a political choice around whether they invest in housing, infrastructure, et cetera. Every time I have been involved in negotiatio…”

“Do you think there is an argument that a council should do both? There are some examples where, if used effectively, you can get large amounts of money out of 106, but if you are building fewer than 14 dwellings, you do not pay any 106, but can charge CIL. Do you think, on smaller developments, where a council is using…”

“I disagree. I do not think it does work.”

“The problem with that is, when you have put those policies in the local plan, you have determined that planning application and said, “No, that is not in compliance with our local plan policy of 40% affordable housing”, or whatever that may be, they will then take their council to appeal. There is no point having that.…”