Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
5 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, Amendment 90, tabled by my noble friend Lord Lansley, speaks to the theme that has run through many of our recent discussions in your Lordships’ House: the importance of how we plan and distribute development for employment, industrial, logistics and commercial purposes, along with housing…
My Lords, we have just heard from my noble friend Lord Lansley and the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, of the value and importance of neighbourhood plans. They are not blockers to development; they allow local communities to determine their priorities. In many cases, as we have seen since their introd…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, Amendment 87FD, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, seeks to prevent larger developers applying for or undertaking major developments until the Secretary of State has revised the responsible actors scheme to ensure that all unsafe blocks of flats are remediated. We urgently need th…
Lords
Debate
24 October 2025
Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his comments. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to and support for the Bill, and particularly my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen for his stewardship of the Bill through this House.
Our democracy remains at the heart of our Government’s purpose …
Lords
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
My Lords, there may be far fewer of us here today than there were in April, but the concentration of steel expertise was raised accordingly. That caused me to have to reach back in my own experience to at least try to come up with something. I worked largely for the users of steel, but in my last co…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
3 contributions
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, I think it is the turn of the Labour Benches.
I thought that we had just reached agreement on this.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I am going to try to be brief, but I am afraid I am going to be beaten by the Liberal Democrats—just occasionally one has to accept this. I offer our support for Amendments 71 and 82, tabled by my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering. As other noble Lords have said, it is a principle of fairness.…
My Lords, we support the intentions behind Amendments 72 and 85 and thank the noble Lord, Lord Best, the noble Baronesses, Lady Thornhill and Lady Pinnock, and others for bringing them forward.
There is no doubt that we need more affordable housing and more social rent homes. We also recognise that…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, it is pleasing to hear support for local democracy from around the House, which I can only endorse.
Amendment 63, tabled by my noble friend Lord Lansley, concerns the first set of regulations made under the proposed national scheme, which, as drafted, would determine how local planning de…
Can I ask for clarification? I asked a specific question regarding the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act and its sections saying that a planning authority does not need to determine an application where the applicant has not built out elsewhere. I think the Minister was hinting that this is what the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response when I raised this in Committee and his subsequent communication. I am sure he recognises the problem that this amendment seeks to address, but I am afraid that limited tinkering does not solve the problem; we need to do something more meaningful.
As …
My Lords, I am somewhat disappointed by the Minister’s response, because I think we should have a national scheme that can be opted into—and so would still be very much a local scheme—but I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, as we said in Committee, Amendment 22, from the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, is a clear and well-intentioned proposal that raises important questions about how individuals can share their concerns relating to NSIPs. However, as we noted previously, establishing independent bodies through a…
My Lords, this is a significant proposed new clause, which the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth, spoke to in Committee, where he made broader remarks on the functionality of our planning system, which he has repeated today. I recall the comments about the length of time it was taking to get a bypass ro…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
First, I declare my interest as a councillor in central Bedfordshire.
I thank my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering for tabling her amendment and raising the issue of cumulative impacts. Under the Planning Act 2008, which governs nationally significant infrastructure projects such as major ene…
In Committee, I described this amendment, tabled by my noble friend Lady Coffey, as vital because it preserves parliamentary accountability, ensuring that government must respond to resolutions and recommendations from Select Committees. The safeguard strengthens transparency, clarifies policy direc…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 October 2025
4 contributions
Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025
In programme.
My Lords, I am grateful for those very helpful contributions to this debate and for the broad support that these regulations have received from all noble Lords who have spoken. I completely understand the stress and emotional upset that these issues have caused to all those affected by them, not lea…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
14 October 2025
Renters’ Rights Bill
My Lords, I beg to move Motion H. With the leave of the House, I will also speak to Motions J, K and K1, which are grouped together.
I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, and the noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, for their amendments relating to grounds for possession. Amendment 53, tabled by the nob…
Lords
Debate
15 September 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I suspect that many noble Lords across your Lordships’ House are not yet fully aware of the growth, scale and significance of what we call AI-related infrastructure—the hardware and software required to create, train and deploy AI-powered applications and solutions. If we are to fully harn…
My Lords, my noble friend Lady Coffey raises an interesting issue on exemption for listed buildings for internal repairs and renovations. I understand the desire for a lightening of the regulatory burden and that this a probing amendment, but there is also a need for balance. I look forward to the M…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
15 September 2025
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards: Cost Caps for Landlords
I hope I made it clear in my earlier answer that no decisions have been taken yet. We will report on the outcome of the consultation. We consulted on a number of proposals to manage the cost burden, including a cap on the maximum investment required per property, which I think is what the noble Lord…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, on 9 October 2000, my parents-in-law, Jack and Ruth Lowy, committed joint suicide. He was dying and she had decided to accompany him on this last journey. Jack was born in Bratislava in what was then Czechoslovakia. The family were Jewish and following the events in Munich in 1938, they fl…
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
12 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the two amendments in my name, Amendments 150ZA and 150ZB, concern coherence in the planning pyramid. Amendment 167 in the name of my noble friend Lord Banner covers similar ground.
The Bill rightly proposes that spatial development strategies should be aligned with national policies. Tha…
I am just seeking clarity. As the Minister knows, many of us in local government bear the scars from changes. The implication of her response is that, in practical terms, someone would not be going to regulation 18 stage in a local plan until they were very clear about what the spatial development s…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
13 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will speak on this important group of amendments, which touch on the crucial matters of climate change and, more specifically, overheating, energy efficiency and net-zero carbon developments. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, and t…
I do not think I said that we cannot do anything. It is all about having a balance.
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, this important group of amendments relates to the creation of healthy homes and neighbourhoods, the role of planning in promoting well-being, and the standards and accuracy of housing development. I thank the noble Lords who tabled these amendments; their recognition of the need to place h…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Grenfell Tower: Bureau Veritas
My Lords, that is part of the Remediation Acceleration Plan, and we will be looking very closely at how we properly validate. The noble Lord will be aware of the changes that were made to building control inspection under his Government. We need to move forward with a proper system of building contr…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning Delivery: Acceleration
Could the noble Lord repeat what he is asking to be removed?
As we have done since we came into office, we are looking at all obstacles to delivering new homes, working very closely with the sector. I have had a number of issues raised with me; we continue to look at those, and I will be discussing them with the new Secretary of State. We will continue, as I …
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
6 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will briefly speak to Amendment 135HZF and to my noble friend Lady Scott of Bybrook’s Amendments 103A and 103B before addressing the other amendments in this group.
Local democratic accountability must be protected. Local people should have a say in the decisions that affect their daily…
I thank the Minister for allowing me to interrupt. I am slightly curious: the Government trust a planning officer to make a decision on something, but they do not trust them to determine whether there is a genuinely valid objection to an application? I find that slightly curious.
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Local Audit (Amendment of Definition of Smaller Authority) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this interesting debate. As noble Lords will know, I spent a lot of time on the same board that the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, sat on: the LGA Resources Board.
We have talked a lot about the history of the abolition of the Audit Commission. I …
The uncertainty around this in the past couple of years has not helped. Once the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill goes through, and it is very clear to everybody what the approach to local audit will be, we will work closely with the sector to ensure that we are developing the capac…
Lords
Debate
1 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Coffey for bringing this matter to the attention of the Committee, in particular the issue of concentration of power supply and potential implications. This amendment would limit the consent for electricity infrastructure within a 50-square mile area where the …
My Lords, I rise briefly to talk to Amendment 94D, tabled in the name of my noble friend Lady Coffey. This amendment concerns constraints on grants delivered by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority. I simply ask the Minister whether he can clarify how the Government intend to ensure that such g…