Speeches & Questions

• Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Bee Population (16 May 2013)
  John Penrose: Speaking as a beekeeper myself, is the Secretary of State aware of the extreme disappointment of the British Beekeepers Association, of which I am a member, at the recent EU ban on neonicotinoid insecticides and the very grave concern that as a result farmers will go back to older, and more damaging, insecticides and that the health of Britain’s bees could therefore inadvertently be...
  
  
• Cost of Living (14 May 2013)
  John Penrose: I am pleased to hear that my right hon. Friend is interested in promoting competition, particularly in the retail and wholesale markets. Does he agree that there may also be significant opportunities, not just in the energy sector, but more broadly across the other utility sectors too, in reducing the infrastructure costs of the transmission network-be they wires or pipes for water,...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: I may be pre-empting the Minister’s next remark, but I urge him to think a little more radically. I welcome the measures and steps that he describes as having already been taken. In some cases, because buildings were designed for a different purpose 100 or 150 years ago, it is not possible to retrofit them in a way that delivers the additional potential uses as accommodation, offices or...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: The Minister is being very generous in giving way. I welcome his remarks, but is he indeed correct that such powers exist? We think that some powers to protect urban views may already exist, but are not being properly used, so will he undertake to disseminate that information more widely? Clearly, although the powers exist, they are not being widely used and might benefit from being more...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: I was thinking either of the much larger example of an entire skyline, which would be hard to preserve, protect or allow to alter in a particular way through the conservation area designation, or of the very narrow, specific example of a particular line of sight, perhaps on a small scale, down a particular street with something that happens to be framed at the end of it, which would be a...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: I understand the case that my hon. Friend is eloquently making. Does he agree, however, that if local communities have a say, it is important that that say is genuinely representative of what local people think? He, I and many others here could point to local campaigns against this or that development-usually whipped up by people who have something commercial to lose if the new...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: Bath is indeed extremely beautiful; it is also a very rare example of a single, fairly homogenous and relatively planned style of building. With very few exceptions such as Bath, or more modern examples such as Milton Keynes, most of the rest of Britain’s towns and cities are not planned. The way they look is the result of a set of rather accidental phases and stages of development. As...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair looking after us this afternoon, Mr Dobbin, particularly because the topic of preserving urban views and regenerating high streets is tremendously important to towns and cities up and down the country. I hope we can all agree that there are two fairly severe challenges facing our built environment, no matter which part of the country we may be talking...
  
  
• Planning and Regeneration — [Jim Dobbin in the Chair] (26 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: I agree with my hon. Friend that, wherever possible, it is often more historically authentic to try to maintain a particular building for its original purpose. However, it may no longer be possible to maintain a building for its original purpose; a good example would be Martello towers, which, for those who have temporarily forgotten, were part of Britain’s defences during the...
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport: Topical Questions (14 Feb 2013)
  John Penrose: Does the tourism Minister have a view on recent proposals by the BAA to raise the per-passenger charges at Heathrow and does he have plans to make representations to other Whitehall Departments to address the potential effect on the tourism industry?
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport: Gambling (10 Jan 2013)
  John Penrose: Does the Minister agree that there is currently not much evidence to prove that fixed-odds betting terminals are the most addictive form of gambling? Although I applaud his concern for the problems caused by problem gambling, will he reassure the House that he will proceed only on the basis of firm evidence when that is available?
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Front-line Police Officers (19 Nov 2012)
  John Penrose: Last week there was also a parliamentary by-election in Manchester Central, where the turnout was 18%, yet I notice that nobody is arguing that it was in any way a shambles or that there was a lack of a democratic mandate. Does my right hon. Friend agree that all this says more about the Opposition’s party political point scoring than about any concern for police matters?
  
  
• Written Answers — Cabinet Office: Volunteering (7 Nov 2012)
  John Penrose: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to build on the legacy of volunteering from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: New Clause 9 — Listed buildings in England: agreements and orders granting listed building consent (16 Oct 2012)
  John Penrose: I will rise briefly in the limited time available, and I welcome the fact that both Front-Bench speakers seem to be strongly in favour of this provision, albeit with a few questions to answer. I was the Minister at the time the measures were originally conceived and drafted-albeit taken from an earlier attempt by the previous Government-and I am delighted to see such wide...
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: New Clause 9 — Listed buildings in England: agreements and orders granting listed building consent (16 Oct 2012)
  John Penrose: I should also mention that we had extensive discussions with representatives from many interested groups, such as the Heritage Alliance, and were able to reassure them in face-to-face meetings that their concerns had been understood and that their substantive worries or issues were being incorporated. At that point, I think that the Heritage Alliance was reassured, compared with its starting...
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: New Clause 9 — Listed buildings in England: agreements and orders granting listed building consent (16 Oct 2012)
  John Penrose: Perhaps I can provide some clarity, as I was the Minister involved at the time. The simple answer is that we were struggling as a team to get everything ready in time-it was a very compressed time scale-and, as the hon. Gentleman has pointed out, many of the issues had already been discussed extensively and consulted on throughout the heritage sector as a result of the previous...
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: New Clause 9 — Listed buildings in England: agreements and orders granting listed building consent (16 Oct 2012)
  John Penrose: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Olympic and Paralympic Games (Security) (15 Oct 2012)
  John Penrose: Further to the earlier question from my hon. Friend the Member for Reading East (Mr Wilson), one of the biggest concerns before the games was the prospect of long queues at ports of entry such as Heathrow. May I therefore congratulate the Minister and the UK Border Force on a job well done in extending a warm and trouble-free welcome, without compromising border security, as the rest of the...
  
  
• Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Unauthorised Development (17 Sep 2012)
  John Penrose: As part of dealing with unauthorised development, will the Secretary of State consider narrowing the number of occasions when authorisation is needed, where it is safe to do so? Specifically, in his response to the consultation on allowing hotels to convert to residential use without planning permission, will he bear it in mind that many people in the hospitality sector would relish the extra...