Speeches by Pennycook.

“Perhaps I did not explain myself clearly enough. There are a number of outstanding policy questions that we need to answer about how we design the intervention. I mentioned quid pro quo leases as a good example, which I think we flagged with the Committee. What do we do with those? The more complex the intervention bec…”

“We published consultation on the draft programme and the SEA yesterday. Are you aware of that? No, you were not aware.”

“I do not think any further consultation is required.”

“I want Rachel and Caroline to have a chance to speak—we can share some of the questions around—but I would probably make three points in response to that. First, there is a very clear rationale for why we picked £250 as the cash cap amount. There are historical reasons in the sense that—although we have changed some of…”

“I do not want to sound obtuse, but I cannot tell you when the substantive Bill will receive Royal Assent or when each piece of secondary legislation will be enacted; the timelines are variable. In my oral statement when introducing the draft Bill, I gave an estimate of 2028 for some of the provisions, such as those on …”

“We published it yesterday. With a view to making decisions on final sites and the scope of the programme in the summer, we are now asking for views, in a brief consultation published yesterday, on the programme itself and seven proposed sites to take forward out of the 12 recommended to us by the new towns taskforce. B…”

“I don’t know whether anything has changed because I don’t know what advice was put to Baron Gove and the previous Government. We have taken advice that I received from officials, including legal opinion, and we have alighted on the policy intervention that we have. To expand on the point, as I said, the shorter the tra…”

“It is just a matter of common practice that I am not privy to the advice received by previous Government Ministers.”

“What is the easiest way to sum it up? That is a big question. Let me approach it by going back to those opening remarks about what we mean by “end”. I take Mr Woodcock’s point about precisely when you switch on some of the provisions, but once this legislation is in place, commonhold will be the default tenure going fo…”

“I am not sure that is the case.”

“Lots of their representations are public. We have had extensive engagement with a range of stakeholders, including investors. Caroline, you might like to come in on this.”

“I absolutely acknowledge that when it comes in is important. It is also important that we get a smooth transition. In the very high-level conversations that I have had with developers—we have had roundtables on this issue—none has said, “Please don’t do this. You will be taking us into a world where we can’t operate.” …”

“It is actually in your gift because you can help me get the Bill through.”

“We are proposing to take forward seven sites from the new towns 12. As part of the consultation process that we launched yesterday and the SEA, we are obliged to consider reasonable alternatives. In terms of looking at those reasonable alternatives—I think I detailed this to the Committee previously—we looked at the si…”

“I might bring in officials to supplement what I am going to say, but, essentially, the bulk of the measure as we intend to take it forward is set out in the draft Bill. There are a number of remaining policy choices that we need to work through. We flagged a number of those to the Committee. Quid pro quo leases are a g…”

“It is a fair question. In the previous sessions I have seen, where other figures—including previous Secretaries of State—have given evidence, there have been a range of views on this matter. You understand, as I think the public do, that the shorter the transition on the peppercorn time, the greater the potential disru…”

“We just have not made a decision yet.”

“Yes. In a sense, that is a very general question. We made a comprehensive analysis of how we should honour the commitments in our manifesto to tackle unaffordable, unregulated ground rents. We have engaged a very wide range of stakeholders. We think the policy in the draft Bill is the most appropriate, justified and pr…”

“Good morning to you, Chair, and to members of the Committee. Before I begin, can I put on record my thanks for the work you have already undertaken in scrutinising the draft Bill, and my appreciation to all the members of the public and stakeholders who have engaged with the PLS process? I know that we have a lot to ge…”

“Mr Woodcock, I don’t want to give the public the impression that that is our intention. It is not.”