---

Stress-related Illness

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's estimate of the number of working days lost as a result of stress-related illness in each of the past 10 years. [17457]

Sir Paul Beresford: There are no data that provide reliable estimates for work days lost annually from stress-related illness for each of the past 10 years.

Capital Finance

Mr. Mark Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to consolidate the local authority capital finance regulations and to provide guidance on the capital finance system. [17514]

Mr. Curry: The capital finance regulations, first made in 1990, have become increasingly unwieldy because of successive amendments. I want councils to have the clearest possible guidance and not be tied up with unnecessary red tape, so I am publishing today an updated and simplified version of the regulations consolidating all the changes made in the last six years.

The document being published is an entirely new text with all the changes set out clearly and simply. It will make it easier for local authorities to make the best use of all the opportunities that we have created for investment, through public-private partnership, in new schools, roads and other amenities for their residents.

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 9

The new regulations also bring into effect changes to the rules on capital receipts to help promote regeneration schemes in areas of need. Following extensive consultation the scheme has been extended to a further 21 wards, bringing the total number of authorities that can benefit to 236.

The regulations also extend for a further year the concessionary set-aside rate applying to the disposal of bus and airport companies and bring into effect a concession to help local authorities lease, for up to 10 years, private-sector dwellings for the homeless. The regulations incorporate important changes to the private finance initiative regulations made last October, strengthening authorities' powers to enter into partnership deals with the private sector. They make some technical changes concerning specified capital grants, the use of credit approvals by debt-free authorities, grants given by and repayable to English Partnerships, and capital finance arrangements for national parks authorities.

I am also publishing "A Guide to the Local Government Capital Finance System." This is an informal, user-friendly explanation of the key features of the system which authorities will be able to turn to for day to day guidance.

Planning Policy

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to publish the revised planning policy guidance note 1; and if he will make a statement about the further action he proposes to take to encourage mixed use development in towns and cities.[17591]

Mr. Gummer: I am delighted to publish today the revised "Planning Policy Guidance Note 1"--PPG1--"General Policy and Principles".

This completes a long process of planning policy reform to strike the right balance between helping sustain economic growth while ensuring the protection of our environment.

The revised PPG1:

reaffirms the role of the planning system in meeting the needs of a growing and competitive economy, in providing for new development, such as housing, and in protecting the natural and built environment;

restates the limited circumstances in which it is appropriate to use planning obligations to secure development;

reaffirms the Government's commitment to a plan-led system of land-use planning; and

emphasises the need to provide services in accordance with the principles of the citizens charter and, in a new section on propriety, advises that elected members should make planning decisions on the basis of an officer's written report.

The new PPG1 also provides guidance on sustainable development, design and mixed use, three themes which the underpin the Government's approach to the planning system.

To emphasise the importance of sustainable development and the central role of land use planning in helping to deliver it, we have placed four significant paragraphs at the beginning of PPG1. At the heart of sustainable development is the aim of reconciling economic development with protection and enhancement of the environment. Measures to improve energy

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 10

efficiency, minimise waste, make better use of land and improve transport efficiency may achieve sustainable development by promoting environmentally-friendly economic activity. In other instances, there may be conflict, and the planning system may need to ensure that the achievement of social and economic objectives is not at the expense of important natural resources, and properly respects the cultural heritage.

We are also producing a good practice guide for local planning authorities to help them take account of sustainable development in exercising their functions, particularly through their development plans. This should be published during the first half of 1997.

Revised PPG1 places renewed emphasis on the importance of good design, particularly urban design. It reflects our aim of ensuring that to build means to enhance, a theme central to our quality in town and country initiative. It recognises that good design has tremendous benefits: it can help promote sustainable development, improve the quality of the existing environment, attract business and investment and reinforce civic pride and a sense of place.

The revised design guidance advises that:

local planning authorities should set out in their development plans design policies against which development proposals are to be assessed;

applicants for planning permission will be expected to be able to show how their development proposals have taken account of the need for good design;

it is proper to seek to promote or reinforce local distinctiveness but local planning authorities should not attempt to impose a particular architectural style or taste arbitrarily;

plan policies and supplementary design guidance should focus on encouraging good design and should avoid stifling responsible innovation;

generally, planning permission should not be refused on design grounds where the design of proposed development is consistent with relevant design policies or guidance; and

local planning authorities should focus on broader issues of urban design, and not concern themselves with detailed design matters unless those matters have a significant effect on the character or quality of an area.

We have commissioned the production of a good practice guide on how the planning system might best promote good design, particularly urban design. It is intended that this, together with PPG1 itself, will provide the framework for planning how design issues should be handled within the planning process.

I am also pleased to announce that my Department will be sponsoring a national urban design award, as part of the Civic Trust's annual design awards. I believe this will give much deserved recognition to development proposals which take proper account of their context and which demonstrate principles of good urban design. I want the award to help promote innovative design solutions for specific areas--solutions which reflect a real understanding of how to design places for people.

Mixed-use development is one of the main objectives underlying the Government's approach to the planning system, particularly in town centres. Developments which

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 11

produce a variety of compatible uses on a site or in an area are more sustainable because of the benefits mixed use brings:

it increases vitality and adds to the variety of building design and form;

it strengthens the economic base--a good balance of activities supports property values and attracts investors;

it improves occupation levels and standards of building maintenance;

it improves security where residents and businesses are in close proximity;

it reduces travel requirements;

and it can relieve development pressures on fringe and out-of-town locations, especially for housing, by enhancing opportunities for vacant urban sites.

We want to encourage local authorities and developers to think more imaginatively about ways of incorporating mixed uses into their proposals and produce lively and successful developments. The planning system has an important role to play and the revised PPG1 advises that:

local planning authorities should include mixed-use policies and proposals for major schemes in their development plans in consultation with developers and communities;

local authorities should take a positive and flexible approach to changes of use, the reuse of vacant sites and the application of parking and others standards;

local planning authorities should be realistic in their approaches to achieving mixed use schemes and about what is likely to be deliverable, and reflect this in the level of prescription they give in plans; and

there is a role for compact "urban village" type developments in creating the environment people will choose to live in.

In conjunction with PPG1, I am taking forward a substantial package of other initiatives to inform and encourage more mixed-use development.

I recently set up a departmental review to consider the constraints on mixed-use development and options for tackling them. The review's findings were informed by internal discussions, meetings with investors, developers, funders, surveying consultants and planners, and a literature review. It also drew on advice from my property advisory group and on the discussions which took place at the symposium on mixed-use development which the Department co-sponsored with Birmingham city council and others last summer. The review identified a broad range of measures to stimulate mixed-use development, some of which we have already implemented.

We have extended VAT zero-rating to the sale or long lease of new dwellings created by conversion of non-residential buildings. This has made residential schemes more viable in a number of areas formerly dominated by warehousing and offices. We have also extended the permitted development order, to enable space over shops and other high street buildings to be used as a single flat. During the review, we issued guidance to local housing authorities on the benefits of mixed use development, and on integrating other uses into housing redevelopments on cleared sites--circular 17/96--Private Sector Renewal: a Strategic Approach. Earlier this month, our support for English Partnerships' involvement in mixed use developments enabled them to launch the "Making Mixed Use Happen" initiative with the urban villages forum. Under this, English Partnerships will make at least £50 million available for qualifying projects over the next four years.

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 12

We are ensuring a mixed-use perspective in several departmental research projects. These include the pilot one-stop shop development approvals study and the production of good practice guidance on how the planning system might best be used to promote high quality design, particularly urban design, which will complement English Partnerships' "Time for Design" guide. Our research on flats over shops is due for publication next month. It will include recommendations to promote such schemes within wider regeneration strategies with mixed use objectives. Following our research into the impact of the buildings regulations on mixed-use development, we will tackle the mainly minor difficulties of interpretation that were identified when the approved documents are next updated. Other departmental research in 1997-98 will address various issues which can affect the opportunities for mixed use development in town centres and feed into good practice guidance.

We will be talking to several of the Department's sponsored bodies and to local authorities to see what more can be done to encourage and promote mixed-use schemes by supporting pilot projects, providing sites, using procurement policies and issuing good practice guidance. We will also be carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of local planning authorities' policies on mixed-use development in 1998-99 and will consult local authorities about how best to maintain the momentum of the flats over shops initiatives which we have been supporting in recent years. Additionally, we will be exploring with other Government Departments what action they may be able to take to adjust their own policies and programmes where this will stimulate mixed-use development.

All in all this is a substantial package of measures which will improve the quality of life and environment in our towns and cities in the years ahead.

---