Speeches by Cocking.

“The Minister talks about energy security and bringing down bills, and of course we need to have more renewables online to do that, but we also need to issue new oil and gas licences so that we can produce more energy at home. That would help with what he is suggesting.”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that removing the pre-planning application consultation entirely places too much trust in developers? Sometimes developers build absolute rubbish. I do not want them to spend too much money on something that does not have some sort of community support, or support from Government agencies. The…”

“Does the hon. Lady not agree that getting rid of the pre-planning application consultation completely will disenfranchise residents and constituents from engaging with the process? Sometimes that process can solve some of the issues down the line. I understand that it takes too long—I agree with and have strong sympath…”

“I thank the Minister for giving way again. I just want to press him a little more. He is saying that people can choose to go through the Town and Country Planning Act regime, but we were always told by this Government that that is a long, arduous process that developments take a really long time to go through. Why are …”

“I thank the Minister for giving way. Has his Department done any analysis of how many requests the Government are likely to get under the clause, and how many applications will want to change how they are determined?”

“If we are talking about small, minor changes, surely the consultation period does not need to be that long—it will not take Select Committees long to produce a report to feed into the process if these are only minor changes. I do not see the need for change that the Minister is setting out.”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“My point is, if we remove parliamentary scrutiny, the British people out there watching this will think, “Well, hang on a minute, the Government are saying on the one hand that we will still have a say and feed into that process, but on the other they are removing parliamentary scrutiny from the process, so how do we w…”

“Q How will that affect the timeframe? I suppose the Government want projects to happen quickly, but you are now saying that there is another process to go through, so can you explain how that will affect the timeframe of projects? Beatrice Filkin: What we set out in the decision last week sets off the piece of work tha…”

“Q How do you determine what should get priority and what should not? Beatrice Filkin: We have set out in our decision the way in which NESO should assess the queue. They will use the information that we set out last week—that guidance—to implement and take each individual project, weigh it up against the criteria, deci…”

“Q It will not be Ministers deciding what projects get priority and come forward; it will be Ofgem. Beatrice Filkin: We have made a decision about the way in which NESO now prioritises the queue. They are doing that going forward. Our decision-making process was finished last week. That is the process by which they make…”

“I would like to ask a few questions—”

“Q I will follow up with some questions to Ofgem. You said earlier that we are moving from a first come, first served system to one where somebody is going to determine what should take priority and what should come before something else. Who is going to make that determination? Beatrice Filkin: What has happened to dat…”

“Q Sorry; yes. We have spoken about local plans and outline planning permission, and I will link those two together. There is a lot of consultation around development that comes forward, and the public in the area buy into it, because it is almost like it is painted in gold. The developers say that they can deliver all …”

“I am a Hertfordshire county councillor until 1 May.”

“Q I want to come back to something you said at the beginning, Jack—I probably should say that I am still a local councillor until 1 May. You basically said that no one engages with the planning system, or that the public—constituents—do not engage with it. What evidence do you have to suggest that? I would slightly pus…”

“I do not agree.”

“I am Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne. I am also still a Hertfordshire county councillor.”

“Do you think there is an argument that a council should do both? There are some examples where, if used effectively, you can get large amounts of money out of 106, but if you are building fewer than 14 dwellings, you do not pay any 106, but can charge CIL. Do you think, on smaller developments, where a council is using…”

“The problem with that is, when you have put those policies in the local plan, you have determined that planning application and said, “No, that is not in compliance with our local plan policy of 40% affordable housing”, or whatever that may be, they will then take their council to appeal. There is no point having that.…”