Contributions
592 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillLet me start by thanking all the members of the Bill Committee, the Clerks, and the officials whose joy at receiving our 78 amendments I can only imagine to have been unbounded.…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillOn that point, will the Minister give way?09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI agree with my hon. Friend, who is a great champion of green spaces in development. In our contribution, we are showing how the protections of nature could be strengthened in the…09 Jun 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsResidents in Wellington, in Castlemoat Place in Taunton and in Agar Grove—homebuyers—are just some of a sample who have come to me, raising the scandal of house builders not…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillIt is absolutely right to say that we should be moving to zero carbon homes. In fact, one study shows that had they been introduced in 2015, new homeowners would have saved £9…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI certainly agree that part 3 requires amending. Our amendments seek to do that, as I will come to shortly. People want to see development that treads lightly on the land and…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillThe hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to draw attention to the thousands of homes that have planning permission and have not been built, including the 11,000 we have in Somerset.…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillMy hon. Friend is very perceptive and hard-working on this issue. He raises a significant problem with the current standard method, and I pay tribute to him. It is not just the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI am grateful to my hon. Friend for the point he makes. It is vital to protect the character of existing places and communities that are so valued, which is why we want a more…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillThe hon. Gentleman leads me on to the next part of my speech. Our amendment 15, which would support the delivery of 150,000 new social homes per year, would be funded by the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI am grateful to the hon. Lady and the other Select Committee Chairs for taking up an issue that we took up in Committee, and about which there has been concern across the House.…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure Billrose—09 Jun 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI thank my hon. Friend for championing the need for social and council rent homes, which is exactly what the Liberal Democrats are doing. We welcome the £2 billion commitment that…09 Jun 2025HANSARDSocial Housing SupplyJess in my constituency had all her possessions and bags put on the pavement outside the hotel and was locked out of her bedroom with her baby by hotel management—shocking…09 Jun 2025HANSARDRegional GrowthThe Chief Secretary will know that the benefits of the Cullompton and Wellington stations project would bring tens of thousands of people to the city, the metro region and the…04 Jun 2025HANSARD Business Rates Relief: High-street BusinessesDoes my hon. Friend share my concern about Hatchers department store in Taunton? It was founded in 1775, but because of the combined effects of the change in business rates and…04 Jun 2025HANSARDBus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the community in north Taunton on getting the first No. 1 bus of the morning—the 6.22 am service—restored? I had the joy of…02 Jun 2025HANSARDGaza: UK Nationals Visa SchemeMy constituents in Taunton have a proud record of supporting refugees; they would support refugees from Gaza, as they do those from other countries. But charities that support…02 Jun 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I rise to speak to new clause 29, which would enable the creation of new wild belt areas and associated ecosystems, and require guidance to be issued regarding them. In January,…22 May 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.22 May 2025