In Parliament this afternoon, I pushed Ministers on local democracy and affordable house building in London.
Residents will be aware that as Shadow Minister, I have the opportunity every month to ask questions of Ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This month, I thought it best to push Ministers on the role of councillors in the planning process and affordable homes.
I know both issues are important to my constituents. By removing councillors from the planning process, the Government is undermining the value of local representation. This is part of a wider effort by the Government to remove democratically-elected officials from having a say on developments in their area.
I was perhaps surprised that the Minister took a hard-line in this during his response given that locally, Hillingdon Labour are opposing new affordable housing developments. I asked the Secretary of State why she thinks that Hillingdon Labour are opposed to this development that is much needed in our area. She didn’t have an answer.
