Richard Hebditch

@richard.hebditch.org

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charities streets transport heritage environment philanthropy planning

Q8 to Steve Reed at HCLG committee https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/17960/pdf/
Housebuilding since general election (indexed, 2023=100, source: ONS)
Oversized cars We have been undertaking analysis and expanding our evidence base to understand the full impact of oversized cars – such as the largest SUVs – on safety, the efficient use of our roads and emissions, and how these affect all road users. This could inform any future policy proposals in London or recommendations to government or the sector. We are also co-funding a study alongside four London boroughs, which will look into the impacts of oversized cars on the capital’s streets, including their contribution to road danger and related issues. We expect outputs from this study later this year.
Graph showing how transport had been the biggest emitting sector in UK since 2016 with little decline compared to other sectors
DVLA’s Vehicle Enquiry Screen will indicate if a vehicle is eligible to pay eVED and will show how much mileage has been paid. Prospective buyers will be able to compare this with the vehicle’s odometer reading before buying the vehicle. DVLA is undertaking user research to ensure the system is easy to use and provides the information that motorists need.
the government will not proceed with the proposed requirement for vehicles under three years old2, which are not currently required to have an annual MOT, to have additional mileage checks. The system will instead rely on motorists providing accurate mileage estimates, supported by clear guidance and tools, with reconciliation taking place against verified mileage data at the first MOT.
21 Labour MPs who voted against the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026
The scheme would: Increase carbon emissions. The construction emissions alone are 254,536 tonnes CO2e, all within the critical fourth carbon budget, taking us further away from reaching our 68% cut by 2030 required under the Paris Agreement. The extra traffic the road will generate would make things worse. In the opening year alone it would increase emissions by an extra 10,350 tCO2e, making it harder for us to reduce emissions fast enough in a climate emergency. increase air and noise pollution, especially in the village of Winthorpe have a massive adverse visual impact with a 8 metre high flyover at the town's cattle market, right by people's homes. The A1 flyover would be 10.9 metres high and would impact on the setting of this historic town. At Winthorpe there would be ten lanes of traffic by the village have a huge impact on landscape character where the scheme crosses a rural landscape. Huge borrow pits for flood mitigation outside the route would also have a large impact on the rural landscape. lead to permanent habitat loss and fragmentation at two wildlife sites, and the loss of veteran trees.
Graffiti on brick wall of block of flats in Hastings saying "why are these homes empty?"
Growth can mean very different things depending on the timeframe applied. Short-term growth could involve reducing costs of certain goods and services to stimulate household spend, but long-term growth could mean high prices to budget for investments that are believed to improve productivity in the future. The written evidence submitted by the City of London Corporation called for HM Treasury to issue clearer guidance on what is meant by “growth” in the context of regulators’ objectives.21 Without clear definitions, including the level of growth targeted and the timeframe over which it is expected, it will not be possible to determine whether the Action Plan has been successful. 11. We asked the departments what they meant by growth, and the intended timeframe, but they were not able to give us a satisfactory answer.22 DBT told us that growth was “growing GDP”, and HM Treasury said “growth is the GDP”, but did not specify what this meant or how much GDP growth was the aim.23 DBT and HM Treasury were unable to explain how this broke down into growth drivers or productivity improvements, or how the Action Plan was expected to practically contribute to it.24
House price growth Average annual increase in value for homes sold in 2025 "homeowners who bought their properties in 1995 and sold up last year would have seen its value grow an average of 13.3 per cent a year. However, those who bought in 2015 would have made only 4.4 per cent a year. If you bought in 2022 and sold last year, the average gain would have been 2.7 per cent a year."
For decades, house prices have risen faster than average incomes and UK inflation.4 The average house price at the end of 2025 was £273,077, over double what the average house price (adjusted for inflation) had been at the end of 1975 (£125,582 in 2015 prices).5 In 1997 across England, the median house price (£59,995) was 3.54 times the median workplace-based earnings; in 2024 across England, the median house price (£289,995) was 7.71 times the median workplace-based earnings.6
The taskforce may also seek to identify where the principles of the Fingleton Review into the Nuclear Sector could be applied to regulation impacting SMEs, e.g. by uncovering unnecessary gold plating beyond statutory or risk-based requirements
Table on mayoral strategic authorities showing how little rural areas are within most of their boundaries
1. Hardwire rural proofing and exceptionalism into devolved governance 2. Create robust statutory guidance on the Devolution Act’s rural affairs competency 3. Include rural contexts and the natural environment as intrinsic to resilient, inclusive economic growth in MHCLG guidance 4. Underpin MSA’s LGPs, SDS and investments with spatially sensitive rural evidence and metrics 5. Better align MSA powers and delivery mechanisms to deliver integrated agendas 6. Monitor EMSA Integrated Settlements for rural impact 7. Create a Roadmap for devolution so all areas of England can benefit fairly 8. Learn from the past
English Devolution: a metropolitan bias? • The government’s devolution programme is planned to bring 77% of England’s population, many of them rural, under devolution arrangements by 2027. • Devolution offers great potential to design policy tailored to rural circumstances and unleash rural England’s prosperity but only if its inherent metropolitan bias and the stated intent of the government to deliver devolution through towns and cities is addressed. The inclusion of ‘rural affairs’ as a competency in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (the ‘Devolution Act’) is one route. • The Devolution Act creates a new category of authority, the Strategic Authority, which falls under three types: – Foundation Strategic Authority (FSA), available to those areas without an elected mayor – Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) – Established Mayoral Strategic Authority (EMSA) which have the most funding and powers. All EMSAs are functionally MSAs
Lenin was certainly right in that the UK learnt some rich and valuable lessons from its Brexit revolution. In its implementation, it has been little short of a disaster. The opportunities, as leave supporters would argue, have been left largely unexplored, and the last decade has been a repeated series of efforts focused on the mitigation of the perceived negative consequences. Elsewhere, when revolutionaries fail to take control of the seat of power, the radio station and the airfield, their revolutions are usually very short-lived. Those leading the Brexit revolution have never taken control of all of the key institutions of power in the UK – it took three years to deliver a leave prime minister, and parliament has yet to see a leave majority. Whitehall has never been given clear and consistent instructions that an alternative vision of the country’s future is to be pursued. Whilst the constitutional change has been completed, the vision has never been defined and implemented. The revolution has failed.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: Right now, the sun is shining on hundreds of thousands of car parking spaces across the country which could be used to power our homes and businesses. We want to work with businesses and car park operators to turn our car parks into solar carports to save families and businesses money with clean, homegrown British energy through our Plan for Change.