Growth and Infrastructure Bill

The Minister will know that some time was spent in Committee debating the true purpose of clause ...

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady’s flow to pick her up on a minute, but nevertheless importa...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, not least because he has enabled me to ...

On a more serious matter, new clause 5 states that planning should create sustainable development...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an interesting intervention, but I will not be distracted and talk...

I would be grateful if the hon. Lady could explain who would judge civic beauty, which I understa...

The right hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. It might be helpful if we discussed how to ...

Will the hon. Lady tell the House what preliminary view she has taken of new clause 11, tabled by...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, and I will deal with that point in just a momen...

I rise to speak to new clause 11, which is in my name and supported by 16 right hon. and hon. Gov...

Does the right hon. Gentleman have a view about building on floodplains, which has been a big iss...

The hon. Gentleman certainly raises a related issue. It is essentially part of the same principle...

Is my hon. Friend aware of the Ridgeway Farm development in Purton, in my constituency, where it ...

My hon. Friend has given a very good example of the local concern that is generated when there is...

As local authorities—a good example being my local authority in Winchester—develop their new loca...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. It is a related issue. Although regional spatial strategies are ...

My right hon. Friend has made an interesting point about need and demand. The Government have sta...

That raises the question of the process whereby councils are now assessing need, and the potentia...

Let me make it clear to my right hon. Friend, and to the Minister, that that is precisely what is...

My hon. Friend makes his point powerfully. The principle of localism is enshrined in the very nam...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that often what statutory consultees such as the utility companie...

I agree, and one problem is that some of the agencies charged with giving a statutory response to...

rose—

Order. As Members know, our discussion of this group of amendments is timed to conclude at 5.45 p...

I will cut my speech in half in order to give my colleague, the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilio...

Does the hon. Gentleman therefore consider Labour’s position on the devolution of projects provid...

I am grateful for that intervention and I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the world of Twitter —he ...

I apologise to the House and to Members who tabled new clauses and amendments and have not had a ...

The effect of the new clause tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Down...

My hon. Friend anticipates the meat of the argument I want to make, but perhaps I could return to...

As the Minister may know, the borough unitary I mainly represent—Wokingham—has a local plan. It h...

My right hon. Friend accuses me of things I have not done, but I am happy to take responsibility ...

rose—

Perhaps I could finish; I do not have much time.

The Government have put in place a huge ra...

Will the Minister give way?

I have very little time and I need to get on to clause 1. I hope the hon. Gentleman will forgive ...

I had the good fortune to be born in the Thames valley and I represent a constituency in the Tham...

It will be for my hon. Friend’s local authority to specify the infrastructure. Those are good exa...

Has the Minister considered giving notice and support to such authorities, before moving to desig...

I have good news for my hon. Friend. I had discussions with the Local Government Association just...

Has the Minister now solved the problem with the keeping of statistics on planning performance ag...

The statistics currently capture planning performance agreements that are agreed before an applic...

I beg to move amendment 3, page 6, line 4, after ‘(1)’, insert ‘Subject to subsection (1A),’.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 4, line 5, at end inser...

I draw attention at the outset to my interests as declared in the register.

It is widely ag...

Does the right hon. Gentleman not understand that the Minister’s intention is very simple and sen...

If the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, he will realise that, actually, the consequence of...

That was then and now is now. Then, we had working banks, a growing economy and people were able ...

I am sorry to have to remind the right hon. Gentleman that it is his Government who have been in ...

The Government are right to be concerned about the poor volume of house building that they inheri...

I wish to speak to amendments 45 to 48. Clause 6 greatly exercised us in Committee because of the...

Does the hon. Lady accept that there is a problem with the current system? My local authority is ...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, and I hope that he will persuade Ministers t...

rose—

Order. Just before I call the next speaker, I want to remind the House that the knife falls at 7 ...

I will be brief. I want to make a couple of comments on clause 6 and affordable housing, and to f...

I want to raise a number of points on which I hope the Minister can provide the reassurance that,...

The hon. Gentleman is right that the main problem is the lack of effective demand because of the ...

I put to the right hon. Gentleman a point that has already been made very effectively: why, then,...

Everybody is keen for me to explain things and reassure them, but they have not given me a great ...

Will the Minister give way?

I am sorry, but I will not give way because many hon. Members have asked me for explanations and ...

Will the Planning Inspectorate system ensure that anybody can see the figures as well as the fact...

I was coming to that. Currently, I am glad to say, the Planning Inspectorate is required to consi...

I am slightly disappointed that the Minister cannot accept the wording of my amendments. I took s...

I beg to move amendment 59, page 32, line 9, leave out clause 25.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government amendments 22 and 23.<...

We now come to the worst clause in a bad Bill. In the words of the Christmas song, ’tis the seaso...

My hon. Friend is making a very good case. Is it not clear from what Conservative Members have sa...

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly strong point. If the clause had been drafted to increase emplo...

We Labour Members have enjoyed my hon. Friend’s Dickens metaphor. He will be aware that what Dick...

That is a worthwhile intervention from my hon. Friend, who is an historian himself, so I could no...

I tabled amendments 40 and 41. I look forward to hearing what my right hon. Friend the Minister h...

I heard what my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) said about the inability ...

Will my hon. Friend confirm that none of the interesting employee ownership and co-operative mode...

Quite the reverse, and as employee ownership has developed in this country, all the arguments hav...

That is an important point. Furthermore, not only did the consultation response come in on the mo...

The fact that there was just one cosmetic change shows that the consultation was ignored.

I...

My hon. Friend mentions the astonishing fact that the OBR says this reform will cost money at a t...

I am trying to find a Dickensian analogy; perhaps it should be great expectations met by hard tim...

My first question is: where are all the Members who are supposed to be supporting this Bill?

The hon. Gentleman’s central argument is that the proposed scheme is voluntary, but my problem, i...

I thank the shadow Secretary of State for his observation. My name is on the amendments tabled by...

The hon. Gentleman does not appear to be aware that even if someone refuses to go for an intervie...

The hon. Lady will be anxious to hear the Minister’s answer to that question, which our amendment...

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, as he is being incredibly generous in do...

I accept that in my case it was voluntary. I could have taken holiday pay, but I would rather hav...

I want to speak about this group of amendments because in recent weeks, like many other hon. Memb...

I firmly believe that there is nothing in the Bill to address the root cause of the problem that ...

Earlier on, there was a reference to Ebenezer Scrooge. Is it not more a case of the grim reaper g...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. There are stark connotations for employees across the...

My hon. Friend is making an important point. Does the proposal not indicate the Government’s thin...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point; I could not agree more.

The Chancellor proclaimed t...

We have had a good and reasonably balanced debate about the merits of the new employment status c...

I tabled a further amendment, amendment 39, on the breaking of the link between employee share ow...

The hon. Gentleman is right to chide me, because I have missed out that amendment. If I discover ...

I have a simple question. If an employee shareholder wants to keep his or her shares, am I right ...

That will depend on the particular arrangement that the company has.

Amendment 31 will prov...

Can the Minister tell me what happens to a worker’s £2,000-worth of shares if the company goes ba...

If the company goes bankrupt, the shares will clearly not have their original value.

I must...

My right hon. Friend is being very helpful. I think I heard him say that there was to be a proces...

I certainly accept that point. What comes between the intentions and the outcome is the guidance....

I am not very comforted by the Minister’s comments, because he seems to be suggesting that there ...

I am happy to make it as clear as I can. By the way, I think that it is somewhat unlikely that th...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not, because of the time.

Finally, let me turn to amendment 59, tabled by Opposition...

The Minister said that he was not Ebenezer Scrooge, but Fezziwig. Wikipedia explains that Fezziwi...

I beg to move amendment 50, page 45, in schedule 4, leave out lines 21 to 27.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 51, page 45, leave out ...

In Committee, we discussed at length the process of registering town and village greens, and the ...

The hon. Lady talked about warm beer, village greens and all that, but the sort of land we are ta...

In the spirit of localism, I think it is up to local communities to decide what piece of land, no...

If the hon. Lady believes in localism, would she not encourage local communities to use the new l...

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point that was also made by the right hon. Member for Haz...

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way—I know that time is short—but I draw her attention to sectio...

I am afraid that the Open Spaces Society simply does not agree with the right hon. Gentleman. It ...

The amendments are identical to those that were moved in Committee, and I explained then that the...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The Bill is about the coalition’s ...

Does the Minister agree that where the landowner blocking a development happens to be a Governmen...

I understand that and it is a piece of constituency pleading so skilful that I fear I may have to...

I, too, want to begin by thanking all Members who have contributed to the debate and by acknowled...

I represent the Vale of Clwyd, which has an area of outstanding natural beauty. One of the chief ...

My hon. Friend makes the point well. The Government have given absolutely no evidence in support ...

The Minister did, indeed, say it would be judged on a case-by-case basis. He also said there woul...

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point that I will address later. At the last count, the numbe...

I have said that we will provide fresh guidance to decision makers to help them make consistent d...

I heard what the Minister said about the guidance, but Opposition Members are looking for a categ...

As the Bill’s title suggests, it is about growth and infrastructure, but, as I pointed out earlie...

Let me start by agreeing with the Minister of State’s opening remarks. He said that the Bill is a...

It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr Raynsford),...

Serving on the Bill Committee confirmed to me that all of us in the House are human, to a greater...

I thank everybody who has been involved in the scrutiny of this Bill, particularly my right hon. ...

I thank the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), fo...