Jackson Ng at Growth, Infrastructure & Housing Select Committee, 27 January 2026

I think quite soon, actually, because I have to get to Central London for a meeting, but thank you very much. I've got two questions, if you don't mind. Thank you to my colleague next to me for raising infrastructure. Chairman, as you know, and to the cabinet members, the government has mentated 95 ,000 homes for Buckinghamshire, but they've not provided, as far as I understand, infrastructure funding to support them. We already know what happens when, you know, housing outpaces infrastructure, overcrowded schools, overwhelmed GP surgeries, gridlock roads, raw sewage, etc., etc. What is the quantified funding gap in pounds for Buckinghamshire? What specific representations has our council made to the central government to close the gap, if there is a gap? For example, have we made requests to meet with the housing minister? Have we submitted bids to the housing infrastructure fund, the levelling fund? Because if the government imposes housing numbers, then they really should be helping to pay for infrastructure, because otherwise, our residents will suffer. And I would like, I'm sure this committee would like, this council to make the case for that. Thank you. That's the first question I have. Thank you. Thank you.

The plan's coming out in July. How can this plan pass the soundness test, the effective test of soundness deliverable over the plan period? If we cannot yet, you know, we cannot demonstrate now how the infrastructure will be funded, how is that going to pass any soundness plan? Sorry. So, and again, we are on a very tight timetable. I, you know, I make no apology for that. You know, the timetable.

Specifically raised about grey belt and I'm going to come back to that. At the last committee hearing we were told that the council has retained a King's Council to advise on grey belt policy. Yet since then the High Court has squashed the Hotspur in Beaconsfield's decision for failing to properly apply grey belt policy. And just last week the national government itself has admitted a serious logical error in its grey belt assessment in South Buckinghamshire in neither data centre application. Conceding that the decision should be squashed. Now if the central government cannot get grey belt policy right, what confidence can residents in Buckinghamshire have in this council's methodology? What is our operational definition of grey belt? Who signed off the assessments? And what assurance can you give this committee that our draft and future local plan will not face the same legal challenges that overturned Hotspur's decision? Thank you.

I know this is a topic we've discussed several times and I think it is very, very important.

The implementation of the MPPF Green Belt methodology got squashed in the High Court. So even the national government doesn't seem to be getting it right. How can we be sure that we're getting it right?

Well, as part of the Local Plan process, we, for our Green Belt assessment, we have appointed...