argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Henry Edward Millar Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State is right to say that under the planning system there should be a presumption not to build on green fields or on floodplains and that there should also be environmental sustainability. Does he therefore share my concerns that the west of Ifield Homes England development represents none of those criteria?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Public Lands
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am aware of my hon. Friend’s opposition to those proposals and I am happy to continue to work with him to ensure that Homes England answers his questions and refines the schemes as much as possible to try to meet the concerns of the local community. I hope more broadly that the announcement I have made today of a review of how the planning system interacts with floodplains and the increased risk of flooding that we are seeing in many parts of the country will be good news to those parts of the country that have seen floods in the last few weeks, and that we can bring forward changes in the coming months.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The fund that we have announced this week is for high-rise buildings, and that was on the advice of our expert panel and Dame Judith Hackitt, who has advised the Government for some time and is helping to set up the new building safety regulator. The expert advice is that height is the main factor in determining safety, but it is not the only factor, and that is why earlier in the year I set in train work on what other factors we should be taking into consideration. It is none the less the most important factor as far as we are guided by advice. For buildings below 18 metres, which will not be eligible for the fund, we will continue working with lenders and insurers to get the market working faster. The new form that has been created in partnership between the Government and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors appears to be working in some cases, but not in all, and we need to make sure that that happens faster.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
William Peter Wragg (Conservative, Centre-right): Inexplicably, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has delayed the publication of the spatial framework to build on local green-belt land until after the mayoral election in May. In the meantime, what can my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State do to stop speculative applications on the green belt, such as that in Bredbury Parkway in my constituency?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very aware of my hon. Friend’s opposition to this plan and that of many of his colleagues—I would say Conservative colleagues, but it is not even exclusively Conservative colleagues. Indeed, I believe the shadow Secretary of State is opposed to Andy Burnham’s plan. It is clearly not proving popular in my hon. Friend’s part of Greater Manchester. We will have to see what happens in the mayoral elections, but I am sure my hon. Friend will campaigning strongly to protect the wishes of local people in his community.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The fund will operate like the 18-metre ACM fund, in that it will be available only for the costs of the remediation works themselves, not for any service charge fees that might be incurred in the interim. We want to see this work done as quickly as possible, because I am very conscious of the fact that those waking watches are causing meaningful costs to people. There are cases where people are finding it extremely difficult to meet those costs.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Greg Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s words on the presumption of brownfield development. Will he give me an assurance that councils such as Aylesbury Vale District Council in my constituency, which are high in the league table for new-build housing, at significant loss to our countryside, will not be pressured, so long as we bring forward all of the brownfield developments in Buckinghamshire?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): We want to support and reward the many councils across the country that are making often difficult decisions to allocate land, aggressively build out brownfield sites, re-imagine town centres and, above all, meet the local housing need of their communities. We want to encourage those that are failing to meet the housing needs of their communities to take such a lead, because it is not fair that people are not able to live and bring up their family in their own communities. That causes housing pressure to be pushed out to other areas, perhaps such as the one my hon. Friend represents, forcing the building of even more homes and putting even more pressure on local services and the countryside in some parts of the country, particularly in the south-east.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. The Environment Secretary and I will be working closely together as we see what further steps might be needed in the planning framework to ensure that homes are built in the right places. The planning system today seeks to do that, but clearly we have seen examples in recent weeks and months where it has not succeeded, and so some change may be required now, particularly as the flood risk facing some parts of the country appears to be more regular and more acute than we have ever known it.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, particularly his comments about wanting more people to live in safer, greener, beautiful areas—I am sure we would all welcome that. Some people are fortunate enough to live in such areas already, and they will be concerned about over-development. Will he assure me that they will be fully consulted? One route is a local plan, which he referred to, but many councils struggle to meet the deadlines. Will he assure me that help will be available to councils to meet those deadlines?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, there will be. We want to find a better plan-making process. Plans are taking too long and we would like not only the time taken to produce them to be reduced significantly, but for people’s views to be genuinely taken into consideration. We are also, through our new digital agenda, seeing whether there are ways in which that can be done in a much more modern, 21st-century manner, on people’s smartphones, so that their views can be taken into consideration.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I or the Housing Minister would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss that matter. I believe it is subject to a judicial review, so it may not be possible, but I am happy to consult my colleagues in the Department to see whether it is appropriate for me to meet her at the moment.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. A lot of important work has been done on utilities, not least by the National Infrastructure Commission, and I would like to take that forward. On the broader challenge relating to modern methods of construction, that will absolutely be at the heart of not just the planning work we are going to do but our broader housing strategy. There is a huge opportunity for us as a country to lead the world in new construction technology and to build good-quality homes at pace. I really want us to take that forward.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Joy Inboden Morrissey (Conservative, Centre-right): To discourage the needless urban sprawl on our green belt, what steps is the Secretary of State taking to encourage councils to unlock unused brownfield sites first and to work with SME builders, rather than moving toward huge green-belt release and working with large developers?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): We absolutely we want to have a brownfield-first policy—that is at the heart of everything that we are trying to do in this policy area. It is why we have created the brownfield fund, which is available to those councils that really want to seize this opportunity to unlock those parcels of land. It is also driving our interest in some of the planning freedoms, such as the ability for a small builder or an entrepreneur to use the new permitted development rights that I have announced this week to purchase a disused office building with the knowledge and certainty that he or she can knock that down and turn it into good-quality housing as quickly as possible. We do not want to see the needless ruination of the countryside—we all want to see it preserved for future generations—but we have to balance that with ensuring that homes are available for the next generation in those parts of the country where people really want to live.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Aaron Stuart Bell (Conservative, Centre-right): I heard what the Secretary of State said about the importance of completing local plans. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is working together with our friends and neighbours in Stoke-on-Trent on a joint local plan. Will the Secretary of State assure me and them that as we get Britain building homes, the Government will also invest in infrastructure such as the schools, roads, public transport and GP services that are needed to support new developments?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased to hear that Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent are working closely together—I am not surprised now that both are represented exclusively by Conservative MPs for the first time. We absolutely want to ensure more investment in infrastructure. As we set out in our manifesto, the infrastructure should flow first. We need well-planned, modern communities, which is why we have invested through the housing infrastructure fund. We will be succeeding that with a new, larger and longer-term single housing infrastructure fund, which will ensure that at least £10 billion is available for local areas to plan for the future and ensure that the roads, GP surgeries, utilities and hospitals are there to meet people’s demands.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): That is already a requirement and we are going to do work to see whether further action can be taken. The future homes standard, the final details of which we will announce shortly, will mean that from 2025 no new home is built in this country unless it has very high levels of energy efficiency and sustainability—at least a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions. If a council is in the process of making a plan, or will be soon, it will need to plan for all homes to be meeting that standard, or higher, in the years ahead.
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Andrew John Carter (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. Town centres such as Warrington’s can thrive again if we focus on regeneration before we use the green belt. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to make sure that that is a reality?
Planning for the Future — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): With our £3.6 billion towns fund, the Government are setting out to do exactly that: to help local communities to come together and to work with the business community to harness private sector investment, unlock pieces of land and get more homes built in town centres. There are great examples throughout the country of councils planning significant numbers of new homes in the town centre. For example, the other day I was in Loughborough, a relatively small town that now has a plan for 1,000 extra homes to be built, some above shops and some on brownfield sites. That is exactly what needs to happen in every town centre in the country to get footfall and create new, vibrant life in town centres.
Veterans’ Mental Health — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): With the Minister’s own strong record on the subject, I am sure that he will agree that the misapplication of human rights law to the battlefield, rather than the law of armed conflict, is a cause of immense stress and mental distress to the veteran population who have taken part in campaigns and fear being dragged through the courts. When will the Government be bringing forward the promised legislation—I have in mind the promise made on Armistice Day last year, during the election campaign —to stop the repeated reinvestigation of veterans in the absence of any compelling new evidence?
Veterans’ Mental Health — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not going to comment on individual cases because some are very difficult. The aspiration is absolutely there to provide a wraparound service. I am not sure that providing a house for individuals when they leave service is necessarily the nirvana that people think it is. The single biggest factor that will improve veterans’ life chances is having a job, and we can do more in that area. I am more than happy to have a conversation with the hon. Member about this issue.
Veterans’ Mental Health — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Other
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution. I cherish any opportunity to get away from London—I was going to say this place, but that is too much—and I would be delighted to come on a visit and see that good work. There is some wonderful practice going on across the country, and I am absolutely determined to champion it.
Veterans’ Mental Health — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Greg Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much welcome all the work that my hon. Friend is doing in this field. Given what he said about strengthening the armed forces covenant, what steps is he taking to encourage universities to sign up to the covenant, so that our veterans do not face barriers when they apply for education?
Veterans’ Mental Health — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for his statement Bill Presented Gender-based Pricing (Prohibition) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Christine Jardine, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Wera Hobhouse, Munira Wilson, Jess Phillips, Caroline Nokes, Mrs Maria Miller and Hannah Bardell, presented a Bill to prohibit the differential pricing of products and services that are substantially similar other than being intended for, or marketed to, a particular gender; and for connected purposes Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 27 November, and to be printed (Bill 105).
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. There is a lot of interest in this debate. After the two Front Benchers, contributors should be looking towards seven minutes for their contributions. I will show a little latitude for maiden speeches, but I am afraid that cannot last forever.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): In the spirit of bipartisan friendship, I would be very happy to sit down and talk with the hon. Member about her proposals. I make no promises at that Dispatch Box, but, as I hope colleagues will know across the House, I am always happy to talk to colleagues and get their input Thanks to the industries I discussed earlier, we aim to have up to 2 million green jobs in our economy by 2030. The UK economy has grown by 75% since 1990. At the same time, we have cut emissions by 43%. We have demonstrated that green growth is possible. We have the opportunity to turn climate change into a green growth opportunity for the global economy. As the shadow Chancellor noted, this November, COP26, the UN climate conference, which will be the biggest summit ever organised by the UK, will take place here. Whether globally we live in the south or the north, the east or the west, we share one life-giving but fragile planet. All our futures are indeed intrinsically linked. COP26 can be where the world comes together to ramp up momentum towards a zero carbon economy. It can send out a message of ambition and hope that decarbonisation is the future, with huge opportunities for those who are willing to act now. In conclusion, the Budget delivers for our businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs. It is a Budget to power pioneers and problem solvers right across our country. We are a one nation Government committed to levelling up investment, growth and opportunity across the whole of our United Kingdom, and I commend the Budget to the House.
Community Housing — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Richard Michael Bacon (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a pleasure to lead this Adjournment debate, the subject of which is support for community housing—a phrase that comes from the 2019 Conservative manifesto, on which my Conservative colleagues and I fought the recent general election. The manifesto, perhaps for lack of space, conflates two of my life-favourite themes: first, giving people in local communities more real say over the housing that is to be built in their areas; and secondly, self-build housing. On the latter, I declare two interests: first, because what is now known as the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 started life as my private Member’s Bill; and secondly, because I am an ambassador for the Right to Build Task Force Under the heading "Community housing and self-build"—which I should emphasise for the sake of clarity are by no means entirely the same thing, although there is often an overlap—the Conservative manifesto helpfully states, on page 31: "We will support community housing by helping people who want to build their own homes find plots of land and access the Help to Buy scheme." I could hold at least three separate Adjournment debates purely based on that one sentence—first, because there is a great deal to say about community housing and the very successful community housing fund; secondly, because there is also a great deal to say about helping people who want to build their own homes, either as individuals or as members of groups; and thirdly, because there is a great deal to say about the fact that the Help to Buy scheme unfairly and inadvertently excluded custom and self-build from its scope. Although that omission was acknowledged and recognised by the Government in 2014, it did not lead to any action being taken until the 2019 manifesto commitment, so in fact there has been an extended period of unfair competition from state-led intervention, subsidised by our tax-paying constituents, which effectively has operated against self-builders and in favour of large house builders, thus limiting supply and choice while reducing overall quality, sustainability and innovation However, I do not want to talk about that—first, because my right hon. Friend the Minister knows that I am a "glass half full" kind of guy, and there is much that is positive to talk about; and secondly, because my conversations with Ministers have convinced me that they are seized of that particular problem in relation to Help to Buy, which I hope will in due course be called "Help to Build", and genuinely want to find a solution that works for self-builders rather than discriminates against them. In the limited time available, I will concentrate just on the first part of the sentence—namely, support for community housing.
Community Housing — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
John Michael Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend knows, I was the person who invented neighbourhood plans. I have a local plan in my home constituency for a town that has some land that it wishes to develop, but it is having enormous problems with the community land trust model in trying to do so. Does my hon. Friend think that that is typical of the problems of the community land trust route, or does he have a solution?
Community Housing — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Richard Michael Bacon (Conservative, Centre-right): I recommend that my hon. Friend talks to the National Community Land Trust Network, because the truth is that there are lots of different solutions that work in different environments. He will have heard, as I did, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government say earlier that the great idea of neighbourhood plans does not work if it is then overridden by developers who take no account of what local communities have said they want. It undermines the credibility of the whole neighbourhood plan process. In my hon. Friend’s particular case, I suggest that he talks to Tom Chance and Catherine Harrington at the National Community Land Trust Network, to see if there is a way forward, particularly if my right hon. Friend the Minister does what I hope he will do, which is relaunch the community housing fund so that the funding continues to be available, preferably on a long-term basis.
Community Housing — House of Commons, 2020-03-12
Topic: Housing
Daniel Rayne Kruger (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that community land trusts offer potentially a large part of the answer to the housing shortage in this country —uniquely among new developments, they frequently have considerable support from local communities—and that, although this Budget was overwhelmingly brilliant, it is disappointing that the community housing fund was not extended to meet the enormous demand for community land trusts?