Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown calls for innovative funding measures to ensure planning authorities are properly funded.
He said: “It is vitally important to our communities that young people can afford to get on the housing ladder and live near to where they work. A way we can speed up house building and make sure new developments work for the local community is to streamline and increase funding for planning departments.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)
Every single young person who gets on the housing ladder under a Conservative Government makes our communities more sustainable. Does my right hon. Friend agree that in order to build the right type of housing and speed it up, we need to fund planning authorities properly through innovative funding?
The Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak)
My hon. Friend, as ever, makes an excellent point. That is why the reforms that we introduce will provide incremental resources to planning authorities to make sure that planning decisions can be taken quicker. Also, we have strengthened the ability of local communities to put in place local plans. That is the best way for our towns, cities and villages to have control over development in their area and to make sure that it happens in the way they are comfortable with, and I know he is supportive of that too.