Speeches by Pennycook.

“As you say, there was a generational increase in the social and affordable housing grant. We went out seeking bids with both prospectuses and guidance: GLA on one hand, Homes England for the rest of the country. We had a—I will not say necessarily surprising—phenomenal amount of interest in that programme, far more tha…”

“That is a really good and topical question and I will answer it. For reasons that are best known to you—Chair and the Committee—this is a very wide-ranging session in terms of topics, lots of which are very technical. I am not going to dominate; I am going to pass to Emma and Jo to fill in and take some questions. On o…”

“Again this is where lots of the issues you are touching on are cross-departmental in important ways. The fuel poverty standard responsibility rests with DESNZ rather than MHCLG. We agree that it is right to retain the current fuel poverty measure. It reflects some structural drivers of fuel poverty, such as building qu…”

“That is precisely what we sought to investigate further through the pre-legislative scrutiny process. In the policy document that we published on ground rents specifically, you will remember that we sought further evidence on whether there is a justification for certain exemptions. We drew particular attention to negot…”

“I start by declaring an interest: my wife is the joint chief executive of the Law Commission, whose work I will cite in the course of my remarks. It is a pleasure to respond to this vital debate on behalf of the Government, and I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence …”

“That the Committee has considered the draft Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026.”

“Resolved,”

“Committee rose.”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. The regulations were laid before the House on 1 June and, following a minor correction, re-laid…”

“And we think that is right on schedule 1 applications. They are a very different proposition from schedule 2 applications, which we think members should be able to take a view on through the gateway test.”

“I knew that this instrument would provoke strong feelings, and it has done so, but I very much welcome the scrutiny provided by hon. Members and the considered contributions they have made. The first thing to say is that a principled case has been advanced—as it was during the Planning and Infrastructure Bill—from memb…”

“I refer the hon. Gentleman to the comments that I have just made. The impact assessment for the Act was published on the basis of a particular scenario, which we have modified. We need to update the impact assessment and we will do so in due course so that he has a better sense of the impact. The impact is tangible and…”

“Planning officers routinely make decisions without applications going to committee. We trust them to do so; they are bound by the requirements that I have just set out. The hon. Member touches on a point that I was going to come to. It is important to ensure that we have a highly skilled planning profession and the rig…”

“I do not believe so, because local planning authority schemes must adhere to planning regulations and meet the gateway test—in the sense of what can pass a committee—and the statutory guidance to which they must have regard. In a sense, we want to ensure that applications passing through the gateway and considered by c…”

“That is a fair question. As I set out in my opening remarks, if such an application were to meet the conditions in schedule 2, it would go in front of the chief planning officer, in most instances, and the chair of the planning committee, and a gateway test would determine whether it meets the criteria that I have set …”

“House adjourned.”

“As I have said, I am more than happy to sit down with my hon. Friend and other hon. Members to hear their suggestions on where the regulations need to be strengthened. As a Department, our experience has been that, in some areas of the country, the powers are being properly enforced and the regulations are working. I w…”

“I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Emma Lewell) on securing this important debate, and I thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) and the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox) for their contributions. I fully appreciate the concerns my ho…”

“Councils have that power. I do not know off the top of my head whether the hon. Gentleman’s local authority has consulted on and put in place an article 4 direction, but if it has not, I strongly encourage him to make that case so that his local authority makes full use of its powers. This is the crucial point. Are the…”

“I do not have that information to hand. I am more than happy to follow up in correspondence with my hon. Friend, as I said. I will bring that data, and any further data we have available, to any meeting that we might have on this subject.”