Wales planning news, August 2019

 

The Welsh Government has published its response to the Independent Review of Affordable Housing Supply, which examined how the availability and quality of affordable homes in Wales could be improved.

In the accompanying press statement, Housing and Local Government Minister Julie James announced the Welsh Government is to carry forward all but one of the recommendations from the Review.

Of the recommendations put forward, the Welsh Government has stated it will consider establishing a body to support how public sector land can be better used to create more housing. It also states that the Welsh Government will require that all housing, irrespective of tenure, must have the same quality standards such as space and energy efficiency.

Furthermore, the response confirms that the Welsh Government is to consult the housing sector on how off-site manufacturing and modern methods of construction can deliver near zero-carbon homes.

It is noted that not all the recommendations will be implemented in the way they were presented in the Review Report but the ‘spirit of the recommendation’ is accepted.

On 4 July, Minister for Housing and Local Government Julie James published a written statement, outlining the Welsh Government’s plans to postpone the planned consultation on the National Development Framework.

“In light of the forthcoming by-election in Brecon and Radnorshire on 1st August 2019, I have decided not to commence the consultation during the pre-election period. The consultation on the NDF will commence in August after the election.

We remain committed to publishing the NDF for consultation at the earliest opportunity.”

The Statement confirms that Assembly Members will be updated on the amended consultation dates as soon as this information is available.

The Planning Inspectorate has published its strategic plan setting out how it plans to improve its services from 2019 to 2024. The proposals in the Strategic Plan apply broadly to both the English and Welsh Inspectorates.

The Plan notes that there are substantial opportunities for improving customer service, transparency and efficiency. It has stated that a new senior management structure will be in place in 2019/20, staff engagement will be increased, and the organisation will begin exploring new approaches to service delivery.

In May 2019 it was announced that a dedicated Planning Inspectorate for Wales was to be launched, which it expected to be in full operation by the end of the current Assembly term.

Welsh Government, The Planning Inspectorate Strategic Plan 2019-2024

On 29 July, newly appointed Prime Minister for the UK, Boris Johnson announced £300 million of funding to support a new wave of City Region and Growth Deals for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Growth Deals are agreements between the UK government, the devolved administrations, and local government, that aim to encourage sustainable economic growth and jobs creation through long-term investment in local projects, whilst catalysing further investment from the private sector.

The funding will help deals already in negotiation in both North and Mid Wales.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns commented:

“Wales is the only nation of the UK where Growth Deals have already been announced to cover all of our communities and the Prime Minister and I are committed to building on the successes of our existing collaborative achievements in both south and north Wales.”

Johnson also reaffirmed his commitment to beginning discussions with the Devolved Administrations, as to how the UK government can better support towns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, upon the UK’s departure from the European Union.

The Welsh Government has published the summary of responses to its consultation on its proposed national milestones for Wales.

46 milestones were developed to assess the Welsh Government’s progress in achieving the objectives of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, whilst also providing benchmarks for the pace and scale of change required.

The consultation examined:

• the criteria for choosing national milestones
• the National Indicators against which we will set national milestones
• changes to the existing national indicators

Consultees stated that the indicators relating to housing should be better represented, whilst greater focus should be placed on the quality of housing delivered. It was also suggested that loneliness and social isolation should be included, an issue of growing concern recently covered in this Lichfields’ blog.

The Welsh Government will now work with the Future Generations Commissioner, public bodies and other key stakeholders to further develop the draft national milestones set out in the report with a further update being provided in the autumn.