New Clause 48 - Condition relating to development progress reports

Part of Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill – in the House of Commons at 5:15 pm on 13 December 2022.

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Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller Conservative, Basingstoke 5:15, 13 December 2022

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, but there needs to be a way of having arbitration when there are points of concern. I can understand that, but it has to be done with the starting point that local people know what is best for their community. I am shocked to hear what my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden has been experiencing with regard to schools.

Can the Minister reassure us that, if necessary, planning inspectors will be given direction on how to interpret the changes in calculations of new homes? Can we have more examples of genuine constraints? Can we make sure that the NHS’s capacity is taken into account? I am waiting for my new hospital to be built in north Hampshire, but it will not be finished until 2030. That would not have been taken into account in the housebuilding numbers that would have come out of the previous calculations and that rigid strategy. Will all those changes be put into the NPPF?

We need to ensure we have levelling up in housing, too. I do not want to see all the houses in this country being built in such a small area of the UK. They need to be built up and down the land.