Speeches by Pennycook.

“I will be brief because I can see that the hon. Members opposite are intent on pressing the amendments to a vote. I have a couple of things to say, at risk of eroding the fondness that hon. Members opposite have expressed for me in recent days. That is troubling, but I will continue none the less. What can I gently say…”

“I am not concerned, for the reasons set out in the “Brownfield Passport” working paper, which I encourage the hon. Gentleman to go away and read, if he has not had the chance to do so already. In a sense, we are looking at a set of proposals, and again I emphasise that we have asked for feedback on them and we are cons…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for that challenge. On this whole group of amendments, whether they have been tabled on the basis of a misunderstanding of spatial development strategies or Members have just taken the opportunity—I completely appreciate why—to initiate wider debates on the Government’s national planning pol…”

“I thank members of the Committee for these amendments. I hope I can give them some reassurance that none of them is necessary from the Government’s point of view. I turn first to amendments 72, 75 and 82, tabled by the hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. These amend…”

“I will address a couple of points to give the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington some reassurance. First, I very much welcome his support for the reintroduction of sub-regional strategic planning—I would actually say introduction, because we are not proposing a regional model along the lines of what happened before…”

“Over time, spatial development strategies will have to reflect the appropriate geographies at the point they are renewed and refreshed—if that answers the hon. Gentleman’s point. But as I said, either individually or in groupings through the strategic boards we are creating, we will have to have those SDSs in places, a…”

“Thank you for that clarification, Dr Huq; we may hear further from the hon. Gentleman on that point. Just to be clear, the Government are driving for universal coverage for strategic planning across the whole of England, so, either individually or in defined groupings, upper-tier county councils and unitary authorities…”

“It is a pleasure to resume our proceedings with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington for tabling amendment 21, but the Government will have to resist it for reasons that I will set out. Having said that, as we have already discussed in previous sessions, we absolutely recognise t…”

“Not legislation, necessarily.”

“I will make a couple of points in response to the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I understand his argument, but I go back to the point that what we are doing in this clause and others in this part of the Bill is setting out a framework for spatial development strategies for cross-boundary strategic planning. National plann…”

“With facts!”

“indicated dissent.”

“I will—”

“I take on board the strength of feeling that has been expressed. As with all the debates we are having, I will reflect on the arguments that hon. Members have made. However, we do not think the amendments are necessary. As I have sought to reassure the Committee on previous occasions, each SDS will have to undergo publ…”

“The Government have been consistently clear—from when we published the Bill and beforehand, in consulting on the general approach—that the nature restoration fund is not simply about streamlining how environmental obligations are discharged, but about using funds more effectively to secure better outcomes for the envir…”

“I beg to move amendment 97, in clause 55, page 88, line 6, leave out from “if” to “on” in line 8 and insert— “, by the EDP end date, the conservation measures are likely to be sufficient to outweigh the negative effect of the EDP development”. This amendment makes it clear that the “overall improvement test” (required …”

“In introducing the nature restoration fund, we have been clear that the new approach will be expert-led and ecologically sound. The Government recognise that environmental delivery plans will play an important role in reframing the relationship between development and the environment. It is therefore essential that the…”

“On that I point, as I have said, the Bill sets out that SDSs “must be designed to secure that the use and development of land in the strategy area contribute to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.” We could spend many hours debating the implications of “and”, “or”, “may” or “must”—I have spent many an…”

“Clause 53 moves us from the content of environmental delivery plans to the procedure and process for how Natural England should approach the preparation of them. The Bill requires that Natural England notify the Secretary of State when it decides to prepare an environmental delivery plan, and must publish that notifica…”

“I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, but I am not going to provide the Committee with a running commentary on the Government’s internal deliberations in response to the OEP’s letter. I will not do that today. I totally understand why hon. Members are trying to draw me on the point, but I am not going to do t…”