The newly formed House of Lords Committee on the Built Environment has announced that its first inquiry will look at a range of planning and strategic issues on the built environment policy – and the effectiveness of the government’s response.
The committee will this week start to take evidence from a range of witnesses, and is also due to publish a call for evidence inviting industry submissions.
It hopes its inquiry will answer questions such as:
- How is the government taking forward the recommendations of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment?
- Why does the UK consistently fail to meet house building targets?
- How does the government intend to take forward its new proposals for prioritising the development of brownfield land?
- What will be the effect of new proposals to allow additional stories to be added to buildings in London without planning permission?
- Why responsibility for architecture and design recently moved from DCLG from DCMS, and what benefits does the government think this will achieve?
- Whether England should have a national spatial plan?
- Are new housing and commercial developments of a satisfactory quality? Are they sufficiently sustainable, resilient and lasting?
The first round of evidence on 16 July came from Steve Quartermain, chief planner at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Gill Graham, head of heritage at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and Ruth Stanier, director of planning at DCLG.
It will be followed on 22 July by further evidence from Peter Bishop, professor in urban design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, and Max Farrell, partner at Farrells and one of the authors of the Farrell Review.
The committee was originally due to include Lord Deben, better known as former minister John Gummer, and Lord Lingfield, but the final make-up of the committee differed from an earlier list published by the Dods parliamentary briefing service.
The finalised committee is chaired by Baroness O’Cathain (Conservative), and includes: Baroness Andrews (Labour); Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat); Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench); Lord Freeman (Conservative); Lord Inglewood (Conservative); The Earl of Lytton (Crossbench); Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat); Baroness Rawlings (Conservative); Baroness Whitaker (Labour); Lord Woolmer of Leeds (Labour); Baroness Young of Old Scone (Labour).
