Speeches by Pennycook.

“The wording is very clear that it is at least three, and we hope to be able to take forward more if we are able to do so.”

“I cannot give you a vague number.”

“Hopefully you have that now. It is within the spending envelope from existing sources. To reassure the Committee and follow up again on Mr Forster’s question, it is not the case that because the Chancellor did not announce a new towns funding pot at the Budget there is not money in the Department to take forward the pr…”

“It is a fair question. We set out the objectives for the taskforce in its terms of reference and they were clear, and they were a number of those: creating environmentally resilient places, contributing to transforming the way that large settlements are delivered, providing housing for strong communities, and so on. Ho…”

“The Department is going through a process of business planning, post spending review, of how much RDEL can be allocated to different priorities, of which this is one. We have some final decisions to make on the exact funding pots but we have a sense of the amount of RDEL funding. You are right that it requires RDEL as …”

“As per my answer to Mr Forster.”

“Yes, because we have always made clear that in the final analysis we will make decisions on these sites in the national interest. Again, to further refine the Committee’s understanding of what I am doing, I am going to make decisions, as the Minister responsible, for what sites we consult on as proposed sites to be ado…”

“I will bring Cathy in, who might add a bit more detail from an official point of view, but no, the precise funding offer will be made clear at the point that we make final decisions on the programme and make that public. Part of what we are doing through both the SEA and the wider scoping of the programme is determinin…”

“Thank you very much, Chair.  ”

“It depends entirely on the delivery vehicle, doesn’t it? If it is a mayoral development corporation that will have a particular planning process; if it is a centrally led one it will have a particular process. A public-private partnership, a joint venture, would go down in a sense the standard. I think what Cathy is tr…”

“All that I would add, Chair—and I appreciate Mr Cocking’s frustration—but I think the issue here is that your question is almost premised on us being at the end of the process rather than midway through it. The role of the taskforce was to come up with recommendations around the sites. It is now for Government to refin…”

“I understand why, but it is not accurate to say that there is no funding available to Government for new towns. There is no new towns funding pot but the new towns programme will be delivered with a combination of our existing grant funding pots. There is the £39 billion social and affordable housing programme. In the …”

“Yes.”

“I note the right hon. Gentleman’s question. For obvious reasons, we do not comment on intelligence matters. I can assure him that national security concerns and all the representations that have been made along those lines will be taken into account as part of the decision-making process. He says that Tower Hamlets doe…”

“Yes, and then I will come in.”

“I am not sure the opposition that has been stated in respect of Adlington is a function of how we did community engagement, if I am honest. Again, this goes back to what the New Towns Unit is doing. It is visiting local areas. It has made an offer to all political leaders to engage with them to further refine their evi…”

“I am looking for the correct form of wording. I think the precise political dynamics will partly depend on the delivery vehicle. If the delivery vehicle is a mayoral development corporation, the Mayor in question will have ownership of that delivery vehicle. There is probably a more acute risk to centrally led developm…”

“It is highly governed, I have to say, by what is fair to a local area in terms of this being a distinct delivery route. These are not just otherwise standard large sites, but what will ensure that there is the right balance of incentives that places want to bring them forward.”

“I appreciate why the hon. Gentleman is tempting me on this matter, but as I have made very clear, it would be completely inappropriate for me to comment from this Dispatch Box on national security considerations in respect of this live case. On his specific question of whether China has been given a commitment that per…”

“Again, this comes back to the process of refining the scope of the programme. We were very clear that we agree with the taskforce’s recommendation that development corporations are the primary vehicle by which to take forward these sites, but we want to allow scope for other types of vehicle, from your simple joint ven…”