Every parliamentary written question tabled by Nigel Huddleston this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–4 of 4 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Fire Service’s powers to prevent fires at illegal waste sites.
No assessment has been undertaken by this Department. Responsibility for tackling illegal waste sites and preventing waste-related fires, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with enforcement undertaken by the Environment Agency and local authorities under the waste regulatory regime.
Communities and Local Government, how many fires there have been at illegal waste and recycling facilities in England in the last three years.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government collects data on fires at waste and recycling facilities attended by fire and rescue services in England. However, it does not specify if the premises was operating legally or illegally.Specifically, the published data shows the number of fires at recycling centres and is published in the Other building fire incident level data set, available here.
Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) local authorities on the proposed acceleration of (a) Worcestershire Parkway and (b) other housing sites.
The New Homes Accelerator works with Homes England and relevant local partners to unblock and accelerate the delivery of large-scale housing developments that have for various reasons become delayed, or which are not progressing as quickly as they could be.The Accelerator has already announced 10 sites with capacity to deliver over 35,000 homes that will benefit from government support, including Worcestershire Parkway.In October last year, I met with you to discuss supporting infrastructure at Worcestershire Parkway.MHCLG officials and Homes England continue to engage with the relevant local authorities for each of the announced New Homes Accelerator sites, including Worcestershire Parkway.
Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications for housing developments in (a) Wychavon District Council and (b) England have the Gardens Trust and Sport England contributed to in their capacities as statutory consultees in the last five years; and how many of these applications (i) passed and (ii) were refused.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39567 on 27 March 2025 in relation to The Gardens Trust. In respect of Sport England, available data from 2022/23 and 2023/24 show that they responded to 1,145 and 1,168 applications respectively across England. The government does not hold data on response times or the nature of the responses from statutory consultees broken down by individual local planning authorities. Statutory consultees do not have a veto on planning applications and therefore cannot pass or refuse an application. It is for the local planning authorities to determine planning applications. As set out in the Written Minister Statement made on 10 March 2025, the government intend to consult this Spring on the impacts of removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including Sport England and the Gardens Trust. Even if ultimately removed as statutory consultees, both organisations will still be able to submit views on individual planning applications.