Planning

Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what total value of section 106 agreement was agreed by each planning authority in each of the last five years; and how much of that sum is accounted for by funds allocated for (a) housing, (b) highways, (c) residential facilities and (d) schools.

Yvette Cooper 
[holding answer 13 July 2006]: Data on section 106 agreements entered into by individual local authorities are not collected centrally.

A recent study “Valuing Planning Obligations in England” conducted by Sheffield University and Halcrow Group consultants for the Department for Communities and Local Government estimated that the value of planning obligations agreed in England as a whole in 2003-4 was £1.9 billion. This can be broken down as follows:

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|                                                                                    |£ million|
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|Open space                                                                          |116      |
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|Transport and travel                                                                |280      |
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|Community and leisure                                                               |111      |
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|Education                                                                           |118      |
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|Other                                                                               |65       |
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|Agreements made directly with county councils (e.g. minerals and waste applications)|7        |
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|Affordable housing                                                                  |1,200    |
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Mrs. Spelman
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent guidance her Department has issued on whether local authorities may require (a) planning obligations and (b) section 106 payments from a developer to pay for mitigation measures in relation to development in a Special Protection Area.

Yvette Cooper
Government’s policy guidance on the use of planning obligations is contained in Circular 5/05 Planning Obligations. This does not refer to the use of planning obligations in Special Protection Areas.

Government office for the south east in conjunction with English Nature are encouraging local planning authorities to develop ‘mini-plans’ of programmes of land or enhancement of existing land which could be used as mitigation against development around the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area in the short to medium term. Developers could contribute towards mitigation of their development by agreeing provision as set out in the local authority’s mini-plan by way of a s106 legal agreement.

Mrs. Spelman
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent guidance the Government Office of the South East has given to councils in relation to special protection areas in the South East.

Yvette Cooper
Government Office for the South East in conjunction with English Nature have advised councils in the vicinity of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area that there is no moratorium on housing development in their areas and are encouraging local planning authorities to develop ‘mini-plans’ of programmes of land or enhancement of existing land which could be used as mitigation against development in the short to medium term.

English Nature’s Thames Basin Heaths SPA Project Delivery Plan, along with other research evidence, will be considered at the Examination in Public of the South East Plan in November. The plan is due to be adopted in 2008 and will set a regional spatial strategy for the South East region with strategic policies on the SPA which will inform local councils’ local development frameworks.

In addition the Government have commissioned further research to inform English Nature’s considerations as well as planning considerations which will be concluded later this year.