Westminster Hall
Thursday 10 April 2003
[Sir Alan Haselhurst in the Chair]
Urban Renewal
2.30 pm
Mr. Deputy Speaker : As this is the third cross-cutting question session in Westminster Hall, I hope that hon. Members will not require me to explain the procedure in detail again. Hon. Members who have tabled questions will be called in the same way as in the House and, likewise, will be allowed a supplementary question. Other hon. Members and Opposition spokesmen who rise in their places will be called as appropriate and as time permits. A small number of second supplementary questions may also be granted, depending on the pace of events.
I remind hon. Members of the obvious: that this is a question-and-answer session and not a series of mini-debates, so I would appreciate brevity in both questions and answers.
Finally, I stress that this remains an experimental procedure and feedback from all those participating is most welcome, preferably in private notes to me.
Oral Answers to Questions
The Government were asked—
Estates (Improvements)
1. Ms Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow): What extra funds are being made available for environmental improvements to, and redesign of, estates to discourage vandalism and drug abuse.[107466]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Michael Wills) : Although no specific funding is available for environmental improvements to estates, a number of funding streams can be tapped to redesign estates, discourage vandalism and tackle drug abuse. Home Office funding over and above the £9.6 billion allocated in 2003–04 to the police service includes £72.3 million for crime and disorder reduction partnerships and £50 million for police basic command units.
In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has allocated £2 billion over 10 years to the new deal for communities; £400 million has been allocated in 2003–04 to the neighbourhood renewal fund; and £250 million has been committed over three years to improve the quality of public parks and spaces.
Ms King : The Minister will agree that design is a way of minimising the problems of antisocial behaviour, vandalism and drug abuse. Bearing in mind the cleaner, safer, greener spaces initiative, will he ensure that the design of estates is taken into account when seeking to
improve urban areas and will he consider greater co-ordination with all the various agencies involved in that work?
Mr. Wills : I am happy to give that assurance. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's work. She has been a doughty campaigner for her constituency. All Ministers are aware of the needs of Tower Hamlets, and it is partly as a result of that and her sterling efforts on its behalf that it is benefiting from the streams of Government funding—£10.6 million in 2003 from the neighbourhood renewal fund and £56.6 million from the new deal for communities.
I know that the Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) would like to say a few words as a large part of the responsibility falls to his Department.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : The document to which my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King) refers, "Living Places—Cleaner, Safer, Greener", was extended subsequently by the communities plan, "Sustainable communities: building for the future". At the core of that document is a real commitment to ensure that designs are central to all that we do in growth areas, low-demand housing areas, neighbourhood renewal areas and, indeed, everywhere across the piece of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. We are reviewing planning policy guidance and working closely with colleagues in the Home Office to update our documents on designing out crime rather than designing in crime, which has happened too often in the past when architects seem to have gone out of their way to do that.
Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome): I support the comments of the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King), but does the Under-Secretary agree that the problem affects not just inner-city urban areas but all urban spaces, including even those in rural constituencies, and not just estates but all common places in urban areas? Does he also agree that maintenance of the built environment, as well as the improvement of the general environment, is useful? Put together, would the measures not have at least as much effect as some of those in the Anti-social Behaviour Bill that we discussed earlier this week?
Mr. McNulty : I certainly agree with that, which is why I emphasise that design is at the core of all that we do in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. That applies not only to deprived areas and to neighbourhood renewal areas but across the piece in urban and rural areas in the north, the south and the midlands. That is especially true of new build, which is surrounded by low-maintenance but high-quality public spaces, small green spaces and parks. I therefore entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman.
Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield): Does the Under-Secretary for the Home Department agree that the experience in the United States in reducing problems, such as broken windows, and in providing policing to address urban disorder and crime shows conclusively
that how an area is policed is as important as the amount of money invested to regenerate or to change it? If policing does not take place, we end up with examples such as the north Peckham estate in which a lot of money is invested in the immediate aftermath of a murder or tragedy. However, when policing levels are reduced, the same problems of disorder manifest themselves. What are the Government doing to link regeneration schemes to changing police practices to ensure that there are lower levels of crime and disorder?
Mr. Wills : Because the hon. Gentleman has cogently outlined the case for Government policies, I assume that we are assured of his support for the Anti-social Behaviour Bill and other measures that we are driving forward. He is, of course, right. Since we came to office in 1997, we have adopted holistic, joined-up approaches to solving those problems. We agree that we must not let any antisocial or disorderly behaviour go unchallenged and unpoliced. That requires investment by the Government, which is why we are investing in record numbers of police. Police numbers are now at the record level of more than 131,000, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will welcome that. It is impossible to achieve such a level of policing without investing sufficient money, and it would be impossible to achieve that if public spending were cut by 20 per cent.
The hon. Gentleman's second point that money alone is not sufficient is right. We need to see more police on the beat, which is why we have driven forward reforms through the Police Reform Act 2002 and the taskforce chaired by Sir David O'Dowd to cut the burden of bureaucracy on the police force to ensure that more police are on the streets. We are giving them the necessary tools to tackle the antisocial behaviour that makes so many people's lives a misery in all areas of the country. Given the hon. Gentleman's remarks, I hope that we can look forward to his support for the Anti-social Behaviour Bill, which will tackle many of those issues.
Mr. Grieve : The Minister will know that we do not view the Anti-social Behaviour Bill with disfavour, but many of its provisions already exist—for example, aggressive beggars can already be dealt with under the Vagrancy Act 1966, and there are numerous other examples. The Government are reinventing the wheel. The powers are already there; the question is whether there are sufficient police to deliver new practices to ensure that provisions, whether they are in the Government's Bill or in earlier legislation, are enforced. There is ample evidence that there are not.
Mr. Wills : Everyone accepts that there is a great deal still to do. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Bill. He will find that the measures are necessary and will be invaluable tools for the police. It is true that the provisions are not all that the police need: we must ensure that they spend more time on the beat, that they are given the resources that they need and that the courts are equipped properly to process the various measures quickly enough. The problem is complex and requires action across the whole criminal justice system and in government, but we are tackling it with the necessary resources.
Suburban and Urban Regeneration
2. Dr. Andrew Murrison (Westbury): What environmental factors are taken into account in the regeneration of (a) suburban and (b) urban areas.[107467]
4. Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk): What environmental factors are taken into account in the regeneration of (a) suburban and (b) urban areas. [107469]
5. Mr. Mark Francois (Rayleigh): What environmental factors are being taken into account in the regeneration of (a) suburban and (b) urban areas.[107470]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : Regardless of area—be it urban, suburban or rural— the Government recognise that environmental factors play a critical role in successful regeneration and improving the quality of life for those who live and work in our towns, cities and communities.
Dr. Murrison : I thank the Minister for that comprehensive answer. There are 120 local air quality management areas in this country. Some of them are in surprising places, and two of them are in my constituency. What assessment have Ministers made of the likely increase in the number of local air quality management areas as a result of the building in the south of England upon which they have embarked? Would they agree that air quality is a principal consideration in planning consent for such building?
Mr. McNulty : I agree that air quality is an important factor in environmental matters. I do not know off the top of my head whether it is a material planning gain in all circumstances, which is slightly distinct from whether it is an important factor to be taken into account. I understand that both the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consider the matter seriously. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Rural Affairs and Urban Quality of Life may add something in the spirit of harmony and parliamentary pluralism.
The Minister for Rural Affairs and Urban Quality of Life (Alun Michael) : The hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) is right to say that air quality is sometimes bad in surprising areas. That is one reason why the mapping of air quality and the co-operation that is taking place with local authorities is very important. We wish to address the issue and improve not just the quality of air, but the quality of information.
Mr. Bellingham : Is the Under-Secretary aware of the Nar-Ouse regeneration scheme in my constituency, which has a huge amount of local support? It has the support of the local borough council, and it also has the support of the Deputy Prime Minister who came down during the last election to a tremendous fanfare. He came down to support me, which was very kind of him, and said that he was announcing the scheme. He also announced that it was to be a millennium community scheme.
Obviously, the scheme takes into account the point about regeneration because it deals with the regeneration of derelict land. Part of the site is a former fertiliser factory, and everyone wants the scheme to get the final go-ahead; there is a huge amount of local support for it. Will the Under-Secretary examine that scheme and do all that he can to support residents in my constituency to ensure that it gets off the ground?
Mr. McNulty : I am pleased to hear about the level of support that the hon. Gentleman has, not in relation to the election campaign, but for the millennium community scheme. I shall do all that I can to ensure that it—and the other millennium community schemes throughout the country at various stages of development—delivers for the people in the area.
Mr. Francois : One of the largest regeneration projects in Europe is the Thames gateway area, which touches on the borders of my constituency of Rayleigh. As I understand it, the Government are due to outline their detailed plans for the gateway next month. In advance of that, can I ask Ministers, when there is a controversial planning application anywhere within the Thames gateway area, what the planning authority will be for the purposes of that application? Will it be the local district council in the normal way, the Thames gateway, or some other body?
Mr. McNulty : The short answer is that it depends where in the gateway area the controversial or otherwise planned application is. The hon. Gentleman will know that we made announcements in the communities plan about particular configurations and mechanisms for delivery in various parts of the gateway. The specific answer to his question is that, if development took place in parts of London or Thurrock, many of the planning powers would rest with urban development corporations.
If the development were in south Essex, which I suspect is more relevant to the hon. Gentleman, it would be a matter for the local planning authority, because south Essex and many parts of north Kent have gone for a more partnership-driven approach rather than something specific in relation to planning power.
Andrew Bennett (Denton and Reddish): May I remind Ministers considering regeneration just how much local people cherish allotments, parks, cemeteries and public open spaces? They very much welcome the extra money that the Government are making available for them, but they find it a little puzzling that other political parties are keen to cut the resources available for such facilities. Specifically, will my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department tell me what point we have reached on the question of the reuse of graves and the generation of income from that, which will ensure that cemeteries are looked after and are attractive, safe places where people can go to grieve?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Michael Wills) : I shall write to my hon. Friend, because I cannot give him a precise answer. From my own experience, I know how
incredibly important the matter is, and I echo his thoughts about it. I shall write to him with a detailed answer.
Andy Burnham (Leigh): I wish to bring to Ministers' attention the Leigh sports village, which is a pioneering regeneration scheme in my constituency. It will provide sorely needed, high-quality sports and education facilities in a deprived community, and it is due to be submitted for planning approval within days.
People in Leigh live in fear that a spotted toad or a great rare newt will be found on the site in the next few weeks. In some cases, environmental factors are not just taken into account, but are given too much weight in the overall calculation. I ask Ministers to advise Government offices, particularly the Government office for the north-west, to ensure that such schemes, which will improve the quality of life and have huge public support, are not derailed by what are, in some cases, marginal environmental considerations.
Mr. McNulty : In the broadest sense, environmental factors are weighed in the balance with many other factors in deciding on planning permission. I would not underestimate the love or affection in which the spotted toad or whatever else is held. I shall not answer the question in its strictest sense, not least because I am the planning Minister for the north-west, and the matter may cross my desk. However, in general, we exhort Government offices to follow best practice when dealing with planning applications, to consider matters in the round and to include in the balance specific policy planning guidance for the area and the region, as well as other material planning matters such as the environment.
Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby): May I direct my question to the Minister for Sport, who represents a Sheffield constituency? In the context of urban renaissance, he will be aware that Yorkshire Forward has seven community schemes in our region, one of which is the Scarborough urban renaissance project. Fundamental to any environmental consideration is the fact that we have the sea at our front door, so we are tightly drawn on where we can go. An excellent aspect of the scheme is the partnerships that have developed between communities and individuals. Central to them have been cultural, tourism and sporting considerations. What is my right hon. Friend doing to ensure that that type of approach—fundamentally, a people approach—is used in urban renaissance projects not only in Yorkshire but across the country?
The Minister for Sport (Mr. Richard Caborn) : Working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, we changed PPG17, which had been a real problem. It had not been revised for 10 or 15 years, but we changed it last year from a reactive to a proactive piece of planning guidance. It asks every local authority to examine its sporting needs in terms of open spaces and planning and to report to the Government.
If my hon. Friend remembers, the Government inherited a problem when they came to office in 1997. The previous Administration allowed 40 playing fields to be sold off each month. We curtailed that and now
have a proactive piece of legislation that ensures that every local authority carries out a needs assessment. The stick is that the Secretary of State will reject any planning application to close any playing field or other sporting venue until the needs assessment is done. The ODPM and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have worked together creatively to ensure that the two things come together for sports facilities. We have also taken a view on greenfield sites and sports facilities. Again, it is proactive. I hope that it will lead to a much more sensible approach to sports facilities, which are badly needed throughout the country.We are dealing with tourism through the regional development agencies. We have given them the powers and resources to address that very important industry, which has been the subject of under-investment and for which there has not been a strategic approach in the recent past. There are major economic drivers in relation to tourism and, in that sense, the RDAs are making it a major part of their plans for the economic renewal of many regions.
Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale): This is an opportune moment to raise a point that I was hoping to make if I caught your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on Question 6. I remind hon. Members that I am a trustee of the National Playing Fields Association.
I am sure that the Minister for Sport is not seeking to mislead, but the fact remains that the Government have not produced a single statistic to back up what he just said about 40 playing fields per month being sold off under the Conservative Government. We know from the Government's figures that 202 playing fields have been sold since the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Perhaps the Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister can confirm that the PPG17 guidance sets no test of need for recreation, but only a test of need for education.
Why is no account taken of the need or demand for other types of open space? That is in direct conflict with what the Under-Secretary said. Is there not a conflict of interest when a planning authority and a local education authority are parts of the same council? If the Minister for Sport and the Under-Secretary, to whom I am addressing my questions, disagree with my contention, would they happily meet me and other trustees of the NPFA? We believe that what I have said is exactly correct.
Mr. McNulty : The hon. Gentleman's comments are not accurate. PPG17 puts a burden on all local authorities to do a full strategic assessment of the recreational open spaces used for education and other purposes in each and every area. It is in that context that such planning applications have to be determined. I recently met my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) to discuss PPG17 and how it will be bedded in. At some stage in the near future, I will be more than happy to meet the NPFA again, with or without the hon. Gentleman in tow. However, he would, of course, be extremely welcome.
Social Housing
3. Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby): Whether Government targets for social housing in urban areas have been met.[107468]
9. Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West): What targets the Government have set for social housing in urban areas.[107474]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : The 2002 spending review reaffirmed our commitment to delivering decent social housing by 2010. The sustainable communities plan sets out the resources and the policy changes that would put us on track to meet the 2010 target. The target applies equally to all areas of England, rather than simply to urban areas.
We are on track, according to local authority plans, to meet the 2004 interim milestone of reducing by one third the number of non-decent homes in the social sector. This will bring the total down from 1.6 million in 2001 to 1.1 million in 2004.
Mr. Robathan : The question was quite specific. I asked whether Government targets have been met, but I did not notice an answer. I understand that the number of new-built social houses has fallen by one third since 1997, which is quite extraordinary. What confidence does the Under-Secretary think that the House, or the public, should have that the Government will increase their social housing build? Indeed, what confidence can one have when such announcements are made by the Deputy Prime Minister—as with the announcement in February this year—whose housing interests were so vividly exposed by the previous Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who found that he had been acting against the Orders of the House?
Mr. McNulty : On the hon. Gentleman's latter point, I have already remonstrated with him for continuing to bore the House with irrelevancies.
In the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question, he suffers from the same delusion as the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow), who, in a written parliamentary question, asked me the same thing, but inserted the word "new". There is no target for new social housing in terms of our decent homes target and there is no target in terms of build for social housing—that is a matter for local plans, regional plans and everything that will follow when Royal Assent is given to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.
Our one target for social housing is to bring all housing up to the decency level by 2010. The hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) asked whether we have achieved that target. Short of using H.G. Wells's time travel machine, he will have to wait until 2010.
Paul Clark (Gillingham): My right hon. and hon. Friends on the Front Bench will be well aware of the review that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is leading on the delivery of development in the Thames gateway and of his intention to make a statement in May 2003. I am especially interested to know if my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary can say whether that statement is still on target to be made in May 2003, bearing other events in mind, and if he expects the
statement on the level of development to lead the way and set the scene for the various delivery vehicles to make a serious contribution to social and affordable housing in the Thames gateway.
Mr. McNulty : My hon. Friend will know that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, as well as engaging in a range of other activities, is chairing a Cabinet Sub-Committee called "MISC 22", for no other reason than 22 was the next number. The number 21 had been taken.
I understand that that body is still on schedule to report by the end of May on a range of issues, not least on the scope for detailed delivery of housing—affordable and otherwise—in the gateway. Other issues include a range of mechanisms and policy changes that may be needed in that context, such as value capture, review of planned obligations, and how, with a mixture of public and private funding, we will secure the necessary infrastructure to make all the developments in the gateway vibrant and sustainable communities rather than simply creating urban sprawl and add-ons to existing communities.
Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey): Are the Government prepared to consider a target in housing that would allow need to be met before demand? As the Under-Secretary will know, the borough, of which I represent part, has the largest local authority housing stock in London. Sites that become available could often be used for social housing if they were not bought by the private sector to provide much more expensive housing or second and third homes for people who are already housed.
Mr. McNulty : I fully understand the nature and context of the hon. Gentleman's question for the reason, among others, that I have responsibility for the new deal for communities. I know Aylesbury intimately, but sadly not Southwark. Buckinghamshire has different problems, but I must say to him that the development of Southwark's new deal development plan and its subsequent local delivery documents is, in the first instance, a matter for Southwark.
In the coming months, however, we will be reviewing circular 6/98 as a matter of urgency. The review will take on board the needs assessment process and a range of others that may or may not be included in the end. There are some very good, sometimes radical, ideas about a new use class order for social housing that would capture a social model, but leave the home in a social sector without necessarily preventing people from rising up the elevator to private home ownership. That will be considered in the mix, but it is a matter for Southwark and its unitary development plan and local development framework, albeit in the context of the Mayor's London plan, which, as the hon. Gentleman will know, is being examined in public in full detail.
Mr. Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton): The Under-Secretary talks about targets, but has conveniently forgotten to mention the target from the spending review 2000; namely, that the Government were going to help to build 100,000 new affordable homes by the end of 2004. Will he tell us what has happened to that target and what progress has been made? Does he realise that constituencies such as mine
desperately need new, affordable homes, yet the Government's policies to date—the starter home initiative, for example—have failed to deliver on what they promised. Fewer than 70 per cent. of the homes promised under the starter home initiative have been built. Moreover, the Government have failed to support councils and realise the potential supply from empty homes. When will the Government deliver on their old targets?
Mr. McNulty : I know that it is a common feature of the Liberal Democrats to flip flop on almost every issue, but I did not realise that that had a temporal dimension. They are now asking me to comment on targets that are, in one sense, a year away from fruition and that, in another sense, are two years away. I hope that the hon. Gentleman endorses our sustainable communities plan, which includes £22 billion of public expenditure, some £5 billion of which will specifically be for affordable housing, and up to £1 billion of which will be for key worker housing. I certainly eschew the notion that the starter home initiative has failed. I have spent much of my time in the past few months going up and down the country, and certainly around London and the south-east, seeing firefighters, teachers and nurses who are in fire stations, classrooms and with patients only because of the starter homes initiative. If Kingston has not got its whack from the initiative, it needs to pull its finger out.
Mr. Swayne : Will the Minister alter the rules so that those local authorities that have established a good record of maintaining their existing housing stock can be allowed much greater freedom to dispose of their budgets by building additional units?
Mr. McNulty : It is extremely unlikely that we will change the rules, given that the ink is barely dry on the rule changes that we made on 5 February, when the sustainable communities document was announced.
Mr. Swayne : The rules are a product of a time when many authorities were not maintaining their stock, so much so that it became uninhabitable. Now, good authorities can no longer be held back by bad ones. However, New Forest district council now has to rip out perfectly good kitchens from its existing stock and put in new ones, rather than building new houses, simply to comply with the rules imposed by Whitehall. It must be horses for courses. Will the Minister reconsider his answer?
Mr. McNulty : All local authorities need to produce housing stock plans by 2006. The hon. Gentleman may be referring to decent home standards. I imagine that constituents of the New Forest, East or New Forest, West require those decency standards as much as anyone else. He exhorts me to travel back in time to a land of milk and honey under the Conservatives that never existed, and the Liberal Democrats exhort me to travel forward in time. I would rather stay where I am.
Open Land and Parkland
6. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham): What action the Government are taking to safeguard metropolitan open land against the pressures for urban and suburban development.[107471]
8. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): What plans the Government have for the safeguarding of parkland in suburban areas.[107473]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : In planning terms, metropolitan open land is afforded the same protection as designated green belt. Government policy on the green belt, as set out in planning policy guidance 2, has not changed.
Dr. Cable : If the policy is unchanged, can the Minister explain the circumstances in which my local council, which happens to be Conservative-controlled, could proceed with proposals to lift metropolitan open land protection of large areas of parkland, allotments and playing fields? Is it true, as the council claims, that the Government have threatened that, unless it does that and builds on green land specifically to meet housing targets, it will incur financial penalties from the Government?
Mr. McNulty : It would be remiss of me to comment on second-hand hearsay, not least from a Tory council. As I said, the policy protection afforded to MOL is the same as that for green belt, as outlined in PPG2. That has not changed. [Interruption.] If the hon. Gentleman, by his wiggling, is signalling that I should leave for my time travel or write to him, I am happy to write to him on the specifics but, as I said, I will not comment on second-hand hearsay from a Tory council.
Miss McIntosh : Perhaps the Minister will consider the practice of the flagship Labour-controlled City of York council, which seems to build, or want to build, on every inch of parkland, green belt and greenfield site in its area. What reassurance can he give those of my constituents in Vale of York who live within the parameters of City of York council that their green belt, greenfield sites and green space in totality will be protected from such growth schemes as the northern gateway scheme?
Mr. McNulty : I have no comment on the specifics of that. If the hon. Lady wants to write to me, I will look into the matter, but I respond to her point by mentioning the same planning protection for the designated typologies of land as is in legislation; it was inherited from the Conservatives. I am referring to PPG3, which talks about brownfield first, then urban edge, then greenfield and, in the final instance, green belt or MOL.
It is for each local planning authority, whatever its political make-up, to submit its plan in an orderly fashion. Plenty have not done that, which is why we are reviewing the entire planning system. I exhort all constituents, no matter to which party their MP belongs, seriously to engage in the development of those plans.
Urban Parks
7. Mr. Gareth Thomas (Harrow, West): What action the Government are taking to increase funding to refurbish (a) sports and (b) general facilities in urban parks in London.[107472]
The Minister for Sport (Mr. Richard Caborn) : A number of funding streams are available to improve
sports facilities, including those located in parks. They include the lottery sports fund and the community capital development programme. It is not possible to give accurate figures covering funding just for facilities in parks. However, to give hon. Members some idea of the scale of funding, more than £180 million from the fund has been spent to date on improving sports facilities across London. The community capital development programme will provide £60 million between 2003 and 2006 for the provision of sports facilities in deprived areas.On the issue of parks in general, the Government have committed £201million over three years to improve the quality of parks and public spaces throughout England. That will include a new "liveability" fund of £89 million to help local authorities to improve their public spaces.
In addition, and in recognition of the importance of urban parks and public spaces, the Government have asked the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to set up CABE Space to champion the vital role of parks and public spaces in improving quality of life and delivering sustainable communities. CABE Space will be launched next month and a new director of CABE Space has just been appointed.
The Government also provide funding to the Urban Parks Forum, which has been instrumental in setting up the London Parks and Green Space Forum.
Mr. Thomas : I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his answer. Is he aware of reports from CABE that almost 50 per cent. of local authorities in London and elsewhere have no strategy for their green urban spaces? Is he aware, too, of the suggestion that almost a third of people are deterred from using parks because of the fear of crime? Although the sums of money that the Minister announced today are excellent news, is he confident that he has enough money to provide the necessary incentives to all local authorities in London and elsewhere to get sports and other facilities in parks up to scratch?
Mr. Caborn : I referred earlier to PPG17. For the first time we have been able to bring sports facilities, open spaces and recreational space together in the planning guidance. Local authorities are now under instructions through PPG17 to carry out a needs assessment across the range of those facilities and open spaces and to bring it into their planning regimes. I hope that if they do not do so and alterations are wanted, the matter will come to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and there will thus be a prerequisite for them to carry out that assessment.
My hon. Friend spoke about having a strategy. The strategy will have to be in the needs assessment. We hope for a quantum change in the way we look at open spaces and sports facilities. The Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty), is deeply involved in the matter, too.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. McNulty) : Building on the "Living Places" document, the communities plan launched on 5 February included a commitment to spend £250 million in the next three years in precisely
those areas. We will shortly be launching CABE Space, to which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport referred, a strategic community enablers scheme, a revamp of the green flag awards and a "liveability" fund, all of which focus on an acceptance that parks, green spaces and the public realm in general are as crucial to urban townscapes as they are to areas on the periphery. For the reasons suggested earlier, the work of the police and others is important in the maintenance of those spaces.
Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey): I am well aware of the Government's commitment to these issues. Can the Minister for Sport help me in relation to matters that arise frequently in the borough of Southwark, where there is a significant deficit of football and cricket pitches? The Heritage Lottery Fund has made some good investments. Southwark park has been re-opened and is very well used. I hope that between the beginning of May and the summer the Minister will accompany me to talk to leading people in the local authority and some of the users of the facilities to discuss how to lever in the maximum public and other funds to provide cricket, football and other facilities, as demand for them definitely exists. However, at present, no funding is available to turn the spaces in the big parks in Southwark to such uses. I am willing to give the Minister relevant material beforehand. It is exactly the sort of profitable use of underused spaces for young people that would help to deal with social disorder on the estates and to improve sporting interests and abilities in our communities, which are waiting for the space.
Mr. Caborn : I will answer about the hon. Gentleman's constituency, but I should first explain that there are two bodies into which we are putting significant funding. The first is the New Opportunities Fund. About £500 million is going through local education authorities in the next three years. That is starting to come on stream, and there will be just over 2,000 developments. That money is going into sports facilities, both new and upgraded. Even though the money is going through the LEAs, the prerequisite is that the money is used for the community. I have seen some innovatory schemes among those 2,000. I do not know what is in the hon. Gentleman's constituency, but we can find that out.
The second body is the Football Foundation, through which £60 million is being spent specifically on grass-roots football. I have asked the Football Foundation to develop partnerships and to start using synthetic pitches more effectively. Although one is always happy to see the upgrading of traditional football pitches, in inner cities the pitches used most effectively are synthetic. They can be played on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and many are floodlit.
We must also explore the work being done by the private sector, for example, by JJB Sports. In Trafford park, there are 24 indoor five-a-side football pitches. Every day from about 4 to 10 o'clock at night, including Saturdays and Sundays, those pitches are booked one year in advance by football teams. Dave Whelan, the managing director of JJB Sports, allows those pitches to be used by schools for nothing between 9 and 4 o'clock during the day. That is a real marriage between the public and private sector. There are complexes in Wigan and Trafford, and the company is rolling out others.
We can explore public-private partnerships and should examine indoor facilities more effectively than we have in the past. Using synthetic surfaces is important for sustainability and usability. I apologise Mr. Deputy Speaker—I am almost making a speech rather than answering a question.
Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale): Although I welcome the Minister for Sport's answers, do he and his colleague in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognise that pitches in our parks play a crucial role in providing sports facilities for many local schools and grass-roots sports clubs—particularly for soccer and cricket, but also for rugby and hockey—where the schools and clubs have no pitches or land of their own?
Will the Minister for Sport, who is responsible for the lottery, examine how the NOF money is being spent by the LEAs to ensure that it is not focused only on schools that have the land and therefore the ability to improve and create new pitches? It should also be available to LEAs and local authorities to improve their facilities that are used by schools that do not have land of their own. I am thinking particularly of the kids who play on the pitches at Wandsworth, whom I see occasionally when I walk my dog.
Will the Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister say whether the Government have looked at local authorities' ability to maintain the pitches that already exist, given the severe pressure on local authority budgets in the current spending round?
Mr. Caborn : With sports facilities, whether they are football or cricket pitches or tennis courts, one problem is that there has never been an audit of our facilities. We have spoken about PPG17 and conducting a needs assessment of facilities in certain areas. We are in the process of putting together a domesday book of all sports facilities, both public and private, and I hope that we will complete the first part of that project by the middle of this year. We hope to add to it month by month, and once we have the full survey, we can make a realistic assessment of what we need to invest in, whether that is for schools or the community. I am sure that organisations such as Football Foundation will join us in that project, as will the private sector. We will have a comprehensive picture of the sports facilities throughout the country in about a year from now, and we can then work out in a realistic and informed way where new investment should go. It is amazing that that has not been done before.
Mr. McNulty : I realise that pitches and playing areas outside schools are important, not least in some of our most deprived communities. I also understand that there are constant calls on local government funding, even though we have increased by well over £1 billion the local environmental, protective and cultural services block, the old standard spending assessment and the formula spending share.
The point made by the hon. Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) is important. PPG17 is part of the process, but I should also pay tribute to organisations such as Groundwork, which is a serious player in recapturing many parks and open spaces that have gone into disrepair. Schools are then able to use them for the reasons that he suggested.
Empty Homes
10. Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell): If the Government will make a statement on empty homes in England.[107475]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : With permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I shall answer question 10 on its own. [Laughter.]
We are determined to deal with the wide-ranging impact of empty homes by pursuing policies to reduce the number that remain empty for long periods. It is unacceptable for homes to be left to rot. They impact widely on the surrounding community and deny housing opportunities.
Chris Grayling : Last year I was on the Select Committee that looked at the serious problem of empty houses, particularly in areas in the north of England where there is no obvious role for the housing. The Deputy Prime Minister has said that he plans to reduce significantly the number of empty houses and return the areas to open land. Will the Minister explain what stage that process has reached, how the different Departments will work together in establishing how the areas can be cleared and what use the land will be put to?
Mr. McNulty : The hon. Gentleman will know that, in the communities plan, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister earmarked £500 million for nine designated low-demand pathfinder areas where the problems are particularly acute and there is abandonment or low demand. I was happy to be in a position last week to announce that six of the pathfinders would receive a further £4 million for the coming year, building on the £3 million that they received last year to start early-win schemes. Those moneys were drawn down from the capital modernisation fund. There are serious negotiations between the ODPM and the three other pathfinder areas for more progress in the plans and serious delivery this year. However, the hon. Gentleman should understand that it is about not simply clearing houses and putting grass seeds down, but re-engineering and refocusing the communities and the housing market so that people are served properly.
Andrew Bennett (Denton and Reddish): I welcome what the Government are doing with the pathfinder schemes, but will the Minister give some of them a kick up the backside so that they get on a little more quickly? Does he recognise that there are places where the market has totally failed and properties cannot be sold, and that there are areas of significant housing weakness surrounding those areas? Should we not be looking at those areas as well as those that have seen total failure?
Will the Minister seriously consider, when a house is fit and of good standard, putting a floor in the market, so that people can be sure that if they buy the property at a certain price, they will be able to sell it in five years at least at that price? As soon as confidence is put back, particularly in some areas in which the market is fragile, the market will take off again.
Mr. McNulty : There is a range of different problems in each of the nine pathfinder areas. Some reflect
different manifestations of the difficulties of low demand and abandonment. We are keen to work with each of the nine to sort out the problems locally for that community, and we have exhorted them all, when they have drawn up their visions for their communities, to be fully aware of the ramifications in next-door areas of what they are doing. We also exhorted areas that are close to the nine pathfinder areas that have experienced some of the difficulties, but clearly not to the same extent, to learn some of the lessons from their neighbours.
Mr. Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton): May I welcome the Government's commitment to consult on empty home management orders? When will that consultation be published, and when will legislation follow? While we are waiting for that, will the Government do more in promoting and encouraging best practice among local authorities to tackle the problem of empty homes? Will the Government consult the Local Government Association on that? Will they consider promoting voluntary leasing schemes, information and advice to local authorities, and even grants to ensure that we can tackle the problem? The use of empty homes can do a lot in the short term to tackle the problem of the chronic shortage of affordable housing.
Mr. McNulty : I agree with much of what the hon. Gentleman says. He will know that Hammersmith and Fulham is one of the lead authorities in terms of voluntary leasing schemes. It works with the individual who, for whatever reason, owns the empty home but cannot do much with it. In the near future, we will consult on turning best practice on those schemes into a more compulsory system by means of home management orders. That is not the appropriation of private property, as one or two Opposition Members suggested when we announced it, in a sort of reversal of Proudhon's axiom.
On the whole, it is a matter of working with those who own empty properties. Those properties will be empty for a range of reasons. It is not necessarily simply a case of some nasty landlord letting it become run down for some nefarious reason.
Planning Policies
11. Angela Watkinson (Upminster): What the Government's policy is on balancing urban infill against new settlements.[107476]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty) : Our policies in PPG3 set out a sequential approach that expects urban brownfield sites to be considered for housing before green fields in the countryside. Where development has to take place outside urban areas, we want to see the most sustainable option. Normally, that means urban extensions; urban extensions are likely to be more sustainable. We are working with local planning authorities very closely as they determine their plans.
Angela Watkinson : What advice would the Minister give to authorities such as the London borough of Havering when it is considering planning applications
for infill or back garden development that it feels under pressure to approve, perhaps in the face of many objections from local residents, partly because of the Government's high housebuilding targets in the south-east and partly because the council is in financial difficulties and does not want to risk facing the high appeal costs associated with refusal?
Mr. McNulty : My advice to Havering and any other local planning authority considering a plan is, if it is in full accordance with the national planning policy framework, grant it. If it is not, do not. I speak as someone who was on a planning committee for 11 years. We do not have planning by plebiscite. One does not weigh petitions objecting to a plan. If it is within the framework go with it, and if it is not, refuse it.
Angela Watkinson : The problem is that the council feels under pressure to approve applications that it would rather not allow because of the rules that are in place. That means that Government are imposing decisions rather than allowing them to be made by the local council in line with local circumstances.
Mr. McNulty : With the best will in the world, as I said in one of the Committee sittings on the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, I have no wish to design local plans for each and every local planning authority, and that is not the Government's position. We are not imposing any targets or plans on the London borough of Havering that are outwith our statutory planning policy guidance, or the unitary development plan that Havering is currently operating.
Another thing that the hon. Lady said troubled me—that Havering is making such decisions because it is financially constrained in some way. If it is looking to let through planning applications that should not be let through under the current planning policy framework purely to make a few bob, it should not be.
Flooding
12. Mr. David Atkinson (Bournemouth, East): What discussions have taken place between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on using the planning process to reduce the threat of flooding in urban areas.[107477]
The Minister for Rural Affairs and Urban Quality of Life (Alun Michael) : Regular discussions have taken place between Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on flooding issues, for example on new planning policy guidance on development in flood risk areas issued in July 2001, and recently in relation to the Thames gateway proposals.
Mr. Atkinson : Does the Minister agree that people who intend to move into areas that are at risk of flooding should be made aware of that risk before committing themselves to such an investment? Is he aware that the CON29 local search form, which is used by solicitors for those seeking to purchase property, does not include a question concerning flooding and erosion? It should include such a question. Does he agree that the home information packs, which will include key information
on a property for sale and which are proposed in the forthcoming housing Bill, should include any history of a risk of flooding?
Alun Michael : The hon. Gentleman asks several questions that are outside my direct responsibilities. The Government's policy is to discourage inappropriate development on flood plains and to examine plans when they are being developed. PPG25 stresses the need for local planning authorities to examine in consultation with the Environment Agency how flood risk can be taken into account as part of the planning and development control process. There is good co-operation between Government Departments on trying to anticipate where problems will arise and ensuring that the planning process takes account of them. As for searches, I am intrigued by the hon. Gentleman's comment but it falls outwith my portfolio of responsibilities.
Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome): Is it not the case that planning policy should discourage new development in areas of unsustainable flood risk without blighting existing properties? Does the Minister not agree that the key to protecting urban areas from flood is whole river catchment area management dealing with land use, compaction of subsoil, aquifers and deforestation? That is the way forward and his Department should pursue it.
Alun Michael : The hon. Gentleman is right that there are implications for land use upriver from settlements. Measures can be taken within land management and farming practice to affect the management of flood risk. We try to look at the problem in a joined-up way. The Government's policy is to discourage inappropriate development on flood plains. Whether a particular development is inappropriate depends on the quality of flood protection in an area. From the way in which he asked his question, I assume that he agrees that we should not have a blanket ban on development, which should be examined in its context. I agree that looking at the wider implications of land use is important in understanding the specific issues in particular locations.
Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire): May I apologise for not having been here for the whole of this cross-cutting question and answer session? I was upstairs participating in a debate on a statutory instrument, which the Minister delegated to his deputy. Sadly, I have no deputy to whom to delegate.
The Minister says that the Government do what they can to avoid inappropriate developments, which we welcome. There are currently 2 million houses built on flood plains across England. Perhaps the Minister can explain why the Government forced through agreement on 288 of the 758 planning applications to which the Environment Agency objected last year. Not all those applications involved building on flood plains, but a substantial proportion did.
Equally, can the Minister tell us why the Deputy Prime Minister has chosen to allow the building of substantial numbers of houses on greenfield sites in the south-east of England, which will unquestionably add to the flooding problems?
Alun Michael : I indicated earlier that we work closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in
considering the implications of planning for flood plains. It is neither practical nor desirable to stop all development. The Environment Agency is now required annually to report to DEFRA and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on planning applications that are determined against the agency's advice. We can see from the report that local planning authorities are taking flood risk more seriously, which is a welcome change that reflects the issue's increased profile.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. McNulty) : With the best will in the world, the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) suffers from the casual empiricism of aggregates. We cannot put all those referrals from the Environment Agency together and leave the impression that those that were granted against the advice of the Environment Agency were problematic. That would be deeply irresponsible, as it is to suggest that because the Thames gateway means the Thames and therefore a river and river banks, it is all prone to flooding, and that we built anywhere regardless of flood risks. That was not the case. Everything that we did in early developments and identification of sites in the Thames gateway was in full cognisance of the facts. We worked with all local authorities in the gateway, whatever their hue, in the context of full and frank consultation with the Environment Agency. Casual empiricism does not sit gently on the hon. Gentleman's shoulders.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : I apologise if I have been unable to fit in every intervention that was sought, but, by and large, the session has dovetailed fairly well.
A norm of around 12 questions is becoming established, but I shall give instructions that 15 questions should be published on the Order Paper in future to provide a little more flexibility and we shall see how we get on from there. I repeat what I said at the beginning: any observations from any hon. Members, be they Front Benchers or Back Benchers, would be extremely welcome.
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