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Petitions

Volume 712: debated on Wednesday 20 April 2022

Petitions

Wednesday 20 April 2022

Observations

Health and Social Care

Halton Hospital

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that the people of Halton should be able to access first class NHS facilities and services on their doorstep; further that tackling health inequalities must be considered as part of the Government’s approach to levelling up; further that Halton Hospital is located in a deprived neighbourhood; and notes that a third funding bid to create two new hospital campuses in Warrington and Halton was recently lodged after two previous pleas for more capital investment fell on deaf ears.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to prioritise Halton and Warrington and create two new hospital campuses, one in each area, as part of the New Hospital Programme.

And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Mike Amesbury , Official Report, 29 March 2022; Vol. 711, c. 794.]

[P002724]

Observations from the Minister for Health (Edward Argar):

The next eight new hospitals form part of the Government’s commitment to fund and build 40 new hospitals by 2030. Together with eight existing schemes, this will mean 48 new hospitals by the end of the decade.

The process to select the next eight schemes to complete the total of 40 new hospitals was launched in summer 2021. Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust submitted an expression of interest (EOI).

The selection of the eight schemes involves a balanced and robust two-stage assessment process. The first stage involved consideration of the EOIs, alongside analysis of existing official datasets signed off by trust executives, then review and challenge from regional NHS leaders to provide expertise on local system priorities. A national panel considered the full breadth of the evidence and analysis to provide advice to Ministers on a longlist for consideration. Longlisted schemes will then enter the subsequent, more detailed selection phase. The next steps will be communicated in due course and the selected eight schemes will be announced later in the year.

As the selection process is under way, we are unable to comment on individual submissions.

Beyond the next eight, we are pleased to have provided capital for Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2020-21, including £1 million from the A&E upgrades fund, £2.4 million to eradicate backlog maintenance of the estate, and £4.8 million in emergency capital for various works across both the Halton and Warrington sites.

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Proposed Lidsing Garden Village development

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that Maidstone Borough Council is proposing to build over 2,000 houses, named Lidsing Garden Village, on farmland at Lidsing, a small hamlet of 13 houses near Hempstead, Lordswood and Bredhurst; further that there has been very little community engagement on the proposed development, with many local residents finding out via social media; further that the area is accessed by country roads which would be completely grid-locked by the development if it went ahead; further that the only road improvement proposed to support the additional traffic—an additional 4,000 cars or 10,000 extra car journeys every day—is a spur road to the M2 motorway which will destroy an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and further that health services locally are already over-stretched and will not cope with the needs of potentially 8,000 extra residents.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to encourage Maidstone Borough Council to consider the concerns of petitioners and cancel plans to develop Lidsing Garden Village.

And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Tracey Crouch, Official Report, 29 March 2022; Vol. 711, c. 794.]

[P002726]

Observations from the Minister for Housing (Stuart Andrew):

The Department cannot comment on details of a specific Local Plan due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system.

I note that the Maidstone Borough Council Local Plan Review has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. The Planning Inspectorate plays an important role in examining plans impartially and publicly to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.

Each Local Planning Authority must prepare a Statement of Community Involvement, setting out a local council’s policy for involving communities in the preparation and revision of Local Plans. Conformity with its own Statement of Community Involvement is tested at examination.

The Inspector will consider all the comments made on the plan during the public consultations, including in relation to the proposed Lidsing Garden Village. Anyone who has submitted a representation during the consultation on the draft plan can make a request to be heard by the Inspector during the examination. Following the examination hearings, the Inspector may recommend modifications to the submitted plan which they consider are necessary for the plan to be considered sound.

As the Inspector is yet to decide whether or not this Plan is sound, I do not consider it appropriate to intervene at this time; however the Secretary of State does retain the power to intervene up to adoption or withdrawal of the plan.