I will speak briefly to amendment 73 and new clause 83, which stand in my name.
As we all know, planning can be one of the most contentious issues in any community. Whether or not local communities are happy, there is nothing worse when permission has been granted than developers doing nothing at all with the site, only half completing it, or leaving it derelict for a number of years. The Government’s proposal in the Bill for completion notices is welcome, but it is still weighted in favour of faceless developers, not local communities, and gives developers too long to act. My amendment would ensure that planning permission can be withdrawn and building works removed, with the site being restored to its previous condition in a timely manner, shifting legislation in favour of local communities.
Despite levelling up being one of the Government’s flagship policies, they continue to struggle to define it and, consequently, how its success can be measured. The technical annex to the White Paper, which addresses how levelling up will be measured, says:
“Further work will be undertaken…to…refine these metrics.”
New clause 83 would help to do just that.
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Legislating for a reporting mechanism that is linked to a revival in manufacturing would focus the efforts of this and any future Government on job and skills creation, and on promoting the UK as a manufacturing powerhouse once again. Parts of our economy have relied on the service sector for too long, with jobs that are often low paid and insecure, especially in coastal communities such as mine.
Coastal communities, towns and cities that were once the manufacturing hubs of the UK have seen a marked increase in low rates of economic growth over the past 12 years, leading to stagnation in productivity and
living standards. That is felt most starkly in the north-east, where Hartlepool, Redcar, Cleveland, Darlington, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Sunderland have all seen decreased manufacturing output compared with 2010, and where the consequence has been a more than 50% decrease in apprenticeships across every single local authority.
In Committee, I withdrew my amendment in good faith after the Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Dehenna Davison) advised me:
“There are already publicly available official statistics covering matters in the new clause, such as the number of manufacturing jobs by region.”––[Official Report, Levelling-up and Regeneration Public Bill Committee, 18 October 2022; c. 809.]
It has since been confirmed by the Library that this is not entirely correct, as not all the matters in my new clause are covered by available official statistics.
My amendment and new clause are straightforward, cost-neutral and meet the Bill’s aims. There is no reason why the Government should reject them again today.