As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepared to deliver the Labour Government’s first Budget at the end of October, politicians in Berks, Bucks and Oxon urged the Chancellor to increase funding for local government and debated Labour’s Grey Belt plans in Parliament. Ethan Leyden, account executive for DevComms South East, considers how the region’s MPs have helped shape the political landscape over the last month.
Labour’s Grey Belt
Matt Rodda MP (Labour, Reading Central) spoke in the house this month, making clear his support for Labour’s Grey Belt initiative. While debating large scale energy projects and food security, he positively described a visit he made to a solar farm near Reading, which sits on a reclaimed site next to the M4, and made clear his support for similar projects in the future.
“The benefits for the economy are clearly enormous. The landscape imposition of the site is minimal, as it is on reclaimed land next to a motorway,” Mr Rodda declared.
“I would like to hear more talk about how land that has been reclaimed, or has low landscape value, can be used…I would like to see a sensible approach, protecting very valuable landscapes.”
Mr Rodda’s comments follow the unveiling of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s plans to overhaul the planning system as part of the Government’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. Under these plans, some low-quality Green Belt land will be recategorised as Grey Belt – allowing new housing and infrastructure projects to commence.
Mr Rodda’s fellow Labour MP Laura Kyrke-Smith MP (Labour, Aylesbury) also supported the Government’s plans, speaking in the house during a debate on protecting agricultural land. Mrs Kyrke-Smith recognised the urgency of addressing the national housing crisis, citing that nearly 1.3 million households are on social housing waiting lists, including 6,000 in Buckinghamshire, and made clear that environmental safeguards must be embedded in Labour’s planning policy.
To that end, Mrs Kyrke-Smith argued that the Government’s national planning policy framework changes are strong.
“For example, the emphasis on a ‘brownfield first’ approach using previously developed land for new housing and therefore protecting green spaces; the introduction of Grey Belt land, which of course needs tight definition but should ultimately enable a more strategic approach to building on certain types of green space; and the ‘golden rules’ in the NPPF, which ensure that any Green Belt building will bring benefits for nature and for community access to green space.”
Reactions to Labour Grey Belt haven’t all been positive across Berks, Bucks and Oxon, however.
Local Conservatives Joy Morrisey MP (Cons, Beaconsfield) and Greg Smith MP (Cons, Mid Buckinghamshire), both made clear their concerns surrounding Labour’s Grey Belt proposal.
Writing in the Bucks Free Press, Mrs Morrissey stated that she will: continue to keep to my promise when it comes to defending our precious Green Belt. Since Labour came into Government, they have made it clear that the Green Belt in South Bucks is up for grabs, a stance I strongly oppose.”
She continues, affirming that: “Housing needs should be determined locally, with planning decisions led by our local councils, who understand our unique circumstances and the importance of the Green Belt”.
Meanwhile, while debating large scale energy projects and food security in the house, Greg Smith MP stated: “This debate is about efficiency and proper land use. It is about getting to renewable energy production, but it is also about using technology that does not destroy our countryside and that does not fundamentally take away our other core source of national security, which is food production.”
Increasing the housing supply
Chris Curtis MP (Labour, Milton Keynes North) spoke in the house in support of Labour’s Renters’ rights bill, stating that he is ‘proud to rise in support of this landmark legislation’, which he described as ‘the most significant reform to the private rental sector in more than 40 years’.
By introducing a range of reforms to transform the experience of private renting, including ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the Government says that the bill will improve the current system for both the 11 million private renters and 2.3 million landlords in England. They also claim that it will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Meanwhile, Emma Reynolds MP (Labour, Wycombe), met with Paradigm Housing Group in October to discuss their plans for good quality affordable housing in Wycombe.
Paradigm is a charitable organisation that assists with building new homes and supporting customers with issues such as mental health.
After visiting their sites in Clay Hill and Desborough Road, Mrs Reynolds noted that: “The Government is committed to building 1.5 million new homes and I look forward to working with Paradigm and other stakeholders to tackle the acute housing shortage in Wycombe.”
Boosting budgets for local government
During the week leading up to the Budget announcement, five Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat MPs penned a joint later to Rachel Reeves, urging the former Bank of England economist to boost budgets for local government in her first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
An extract from the letter, submitted by Olly Glover MP (Didcot and Wantage); Charlie Maynard MP (Witney and West Oxfordshire); Calum Miller MP (Bicester and Woodstock); Layla Moran MP (Oxford West and Abingdon) and Freddie van Mierlo MP (Henley and Thame), reads:
“We want to highlight the financial challenges Oxfordshire County Council faces, which make it increasingly difficult to deliver services that our communities rely on, particularly in relation to SEND provision, adult social care and highways maintenance.
“The Liberal Democrats believe that investing in local government services is vital for the wellbeing of our communities. Councils need a longer-term, multi-year financial settlement to enable them to properly plan their services.
“We urge you to prioritise adequate funding for local authorities, including Oxfordshire, in your upcoming Budget, to ensure that we can provide quality public services.”
In her Budget announcement on October 30, Rachel Reeves announced an extra £1.3 billion of funding through the local government finance settlement, for the 2025 financial year. Together with council tax flexibilities and locally retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of approximately 3.2 per cent.
Calls for mandatory solar panels on new homes
A cross-party group of 35 MPs, that includes the Lib Dem MP for Henley and Thame, Freddie Van Mierlo, have collaborated with more than a dozen environmental and fuel poverty advocacy groups to urge the Government to make solar panels mandatory on all new build homes.
The open letter to Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook relates to the Future Homes Standard, new building regulations that are due to come into effect next year.
The group have stated that “We should not be building houses in the next five years that will have to be retrofitted, at much greater cost, five or 10 years later.”
They argue that legislating for solar panels to be mandatory now would allow the benefits of low bills and minimal carbon emissions to be felt immediately.
According to a recent report by The MCS Foundation, installing solar panels as well as heat pumps and batteries in new homes would result in savings of up to £46,612 per household on a three-bedroom semi-detached house, accumulated over a 25-year mortgage term. These savings, they claim, far exceed the upfront investment required to install these technologies in new homes.
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