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Planning-gain Supplement (Preparations) Bill

It is clear that the hon. Gentleman knows more about what will go on behind the Bill than the rest of the House does. We are told that 30 per cent. of the planning gain supplement will be handled by the Government in one form or another. However, we are not told what it will really be used for, how much it will cost to collect or how many civil servants will be needed to administer it. Most of all, we are not given any guarantee that the infrastructure needed to support the increase in population will be forthcoming from the Government. A good argument has been made to the effect that people will not sell land at that level of planning gain taxation, so there will be a dearth of land on which to put those 167,000 homes. That point was made by my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Dunne). The increased population will be forced on us by a Government who refuse to guarantee us the infrastructure required to support it. Therein lies the concern. We have asked again and again for guarantees from the Government of money to ensure that the infrastructure will be in place by the time that those people settle in our county. The Government have consistently refused to give us that guarantee. They want the people of Northamptonshire to accept the extra housing on the basis of a vague undertaking that the taxation will be in place, much of it through this Bill, to supply the necessary infrastructure. We have seen many Government promises over the past 10 years. They do not fill us with confidence. I do not wish to understate the confidence that I place in the Minister who will wind up the debate. We are fortunate that she is in her position and have had considerable help from her in the past. However, the Government’s record on keeping promises has been abysmal and the people of Northamptonshire recognise that. Our fear is that we will be let down again. We will have the houses dumped on us, but we will not have the infrastructure to support the new arrivals. I have several questions to which I hope the Minister can reply when she winds up. First, how much does she think should be raised by a planning gain supplement? Unless we know that and can relate it to the number of houses to be built, we have no idea how far the supplement will go towards paying for infrastructure or how much the Government will need to add. Secondly, we want to know whether the Government will guarantee the money for the required infrastructure to the people of Northamptonshire, so that they can proceed with some confidence. At present, they sorely lack that confidence. Thirdly, will the retained element be used to supply the infrastructure for sustainable communities projects? If so, we need to see the figures, because I suspect that the money to be raised will come nowhere near the money that is needed. If the money does not come from the planning gain, where will it come from in general taxation? Finally, what greenfield sites will be built on to raise the money necessary to provide the planning gain that will answer all the problems with infrastructure? I realise that that is not part of the purpose of the Bill, but it is a vital question. At the moment, in Northampton, we are talking about building 22 houses on brownfield sites, but they will not provide the planning gain taxation necessary, not least because of the cost involved in reclaiming the sites to make them fit for building on. The Bill fails to answer all those questions and does not give the people of Northamptonshire any confidence. I see smiles on the faces of Labour Members, clearly much cleverer than I am, who do not share my fears. I invite them to come to Northamptonshire and answer the questions I have asked. I would be delighted if they did so—it would help me and the people of Northamptonshire enormously. There is a challenge for you. Let us see you turning up in my town and see who would be smiling then. Many people would not be smiling at you—