Speeches by Cocking.

“I do not agree.”

“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…”

“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 …”

“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…”

“Is this not just over-complicating the system? We are saying to the Treasury, “We can put the future tax income that you are going to get towards this debt”. Why do we not get the Treasury to fund the infrastructure anyway? They are getting the stamp duty. Are we not just creating another level of bureaucracy to go thr…”

“I disagree. I do not think it does work.”

“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.…”

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

“I will move on to viability. Let us just set some context here. There is lots of unspent 106 money, because there is never enough 106 money given. Once the council gets the 106 money, it is a political choice around whether they invest in housing, infrastructure, et cetera. Every time I have been involved in negotiatio…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“In 2022, as I was sitting at Wormley community centre telling for the local elections, a woman said to me, “I’ve just voted Conservative because you are the only party that knows what a woman is,” so the British people really do care about this. Will the Minister be more specific on when she will issue guidance to scho…”

“I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Just eight weeks ago, during a Select Committee evidence session, the Minister told me that “there is a lot of good work taking place in Birmingham”. The Government want to create super-councils, covering half a million people and reaching ove…”

“I want to make a point about solicitors’ practices and what information people get when they buy their properties. I think that a number of people go into these contracts under false pretences and do not fully understand what they are responsible for and what they may end up paying for.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I draw hon. Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, because I am a local councillor. I also understand this issue more than most, because I live in a leasehold property. I have a number of cases across my constituency …”

“I am Lewis Cocking, the MP for Broxbourne, and I know Owen Mapley because he was the chief executive of Hertfordshire County Council, where I am still a councillor.”

“Among councils that have faced financial distress or issued section 114 notices, do you think there have been flags within their audits that said that the council would be in financial distress before it was? This does not just happen overnight; something must have been going on in their audited accounts for the previo…”

“It is probably a question for you all, in particular Gareth; you were speaking about the use for aid—the funding pots and what have you. How do you think the Government should give out money to local authorities? On the one hand, you can do that bidding for pots and what have you. On the other hand, for example, the UK…”

“You were talking about politicians and councillors making choices and what have you. In their Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Government have decided to bring in mandatory planning training. I am a councillor, and local government finance is complicated. It is easy to decide what day you want the bins collected a…”

“Just on that, making bad budgetary decisions can lead to massive ramifications for a council.”