Every parliamentary written question tabled by Wendy Morton this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 101–120 of 189 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 66180 on Housing: Finance, whether he plans to publish a regional breakdown of Affordable Homes Programme allocations (a) outside London via Homes England and (b) by tenure type.
Homes England publish allocations data for the Affordable Homes Programme on gov.uk here. Further updates on allocations, including those with Strategic Partners, will be released in due course.
Communities and Local Government, what additional funding she plans to provide to planning departments in local authorities in 2025-26.
Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that neighbourhood plans effectively safeguard the environment and green belt in local areas.
By designating Local Green Spaces and setting expectations for development in their area, neighbourhood plans can ensure development is environmentally acceptable and preserves access to nature. Local planning authorities, in consultation with their communities and any neighbourhood planning bodies, decide whether land should be designated as green belt in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Framework permits neighbourhood plans to amend green belt boundaries where strategic policies set out in a local development plan or spatial development strategy justify changes.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of funding the National Association of Local Councils.
The government welcomes the work of the National Association of Local Councils to support and represent town and parish councils in England. The government has not assessed the merits of providing general funding to the National Association of Local Councils.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62958 on Affordable Housing: West Midlands, when he will publish a figure for the funding that has been allocated to the West Midlands as part of the 10‑year Affordable Homes Programme.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, how many of the 39,000 new properties will be built (a) in the West Midlands combined authority area and (b) in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.
Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes have been built since July 2024.
Statistics on gross additional affordable housing supply in England between April 2024 and March 2025, including the number of affordable homes built, will be published by December 2025.
Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes she plans to deliver in this Parliament.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, when the 39,000 new properties will be built.
The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of infrastructure developments on agricultural land.
The government places great importance upon our agricultural land. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of the Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification system). Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that local housing targets include provision for (a) infrastructure and (b) brownfield remediation.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament. The Standard Method for assessing housing needs provides a starting point for local planning authorities (LPAs) to inform the preparation of their local development plans. Once an assessment has been made, LPAs should take into account land availability, environmental constraints, and other relevant matters, to determine how much of the assessed housing need can be met. It is for local authorities, in consultation with their communities, to set out the most appropriate strategy to meet their housing needs. The NPPF makes clear that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs and should support opportunities to remediate derelict and contaminated land. Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period. The government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund.
Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the regional allocation of (a) local authority housing and (b) affordable homes programme funds in the Spending Review 2025.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take with local authorities to help encourage social cohesion at a neighbourhood level.
Local Authorities are being actively supported to improve social cohesion through a range of national initiatives. This includes the recently announced communities funding for up to 350 places, incorporating the existing 75 Plan for Neighbourhoods, announced in March, and the 25 trailblazer neighbourhoods announced at Spending Review, who will receive up to £20 million each over the next decade. This funding will support improvements people can see on their doorstep, champion local leadership, foster community engagement and strengthen social cohesion.To deliver this programme of neighbourhood-level support, the government will work in partnership with local communities and local authorities to support delivery.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of neighbourhood planning policies in involving local communities in the planning process.
As set out in Paragraph 30 of the National Planning Policy Framework, neighbourhood planning gives communities the power to develop a shared vision for their area. Neighbourhood plans can shape, direct, and help to deliver sustainable development, by influencing local planning decisions as part of the statutory development plan.The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current measures to protect public green spaces from (a) unauthorised encampments and (b) environmental damage.
The designation of land as Local Green Space through local and neighbourhood plans allows communities to identify and protect green areas of particular importance to them.Local plans are expected to identify, map and safeguard locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity, including Local Wildlife Sites.Local planning authorities already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use to tackle all types of unauthorised development. We will keep the use of these powers under review.
Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department plans to provide for brownfield remediation in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial year.
The government is making available over £1.8bn of grant funding for land and infrastructure in 2025/26. We will launch the National Housing Delivery Fund in 2026/27. Its c.£5bn of capital grant funding will be available across the four financial years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 18 June 2025 (HCWS712), we are also intend to establish a new, permanent National Housing Bank to act as the government’s investment arm. We also intend to establish a new, permanent National Housing Bank to act as the government’s investment arm. The Bank will have an initial allocation of £16 billion of new financial capacity.
Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure that developers take account of adopted neighbourhood plans.
The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system.Once passed at referendum, neighbourhood plans form part of the statutory development plan for the local area which is the basis for making decisions on planning applications.The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan (including any neighbourhood plans), permission should not usually be granted.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62956 on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, when Ministers in her Department last met with the Leader of Birmingham City Council to discuss the waste collection industrial dispute.
All details of ministerial meetings with external bodies are published on gov.uk.
Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to increase the role of neighbourhood plans in the planning process.
The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60503 on Housing: Construction, what the cost components are of the stability of energy costs in manufacturing.
Manufacturing energy costs are comprised of the wholesale price, network charges, and policy costs used to fund renewables and other initiatives including the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariff, Capacity Market charges, Nuclear RAB, and more. The Climate Change Levy is also applied to industrial energy bills, and there are indirect costs associated with the Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Support.