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Delivered January 22nd, 2018. Contributors: Teresa W., Shannon R. and

Part
01
of two
Part
01

Number of UK Construction/Property Development Policymakers

The governmental structure in the UK concerning policy-making for construction and property development is divided into four areas: The Minister of State for Housing and Planning; the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Communities and Local Government Committee; and Local Planning Authorities. In total, there are over 360 government officials and MPs that are involved in making construction and property development policies. Below is a breakdown of policymakers and their roles.

Summary

In 2012, the UK Parliament, through the Department of Communities and Local Government, released the National Planning Policy Framework which outlined the national policies for planning and property development. This policy gave Local Planning Authorities the ability to make decisions and policies on a local level regarding construction, planning and property development as long as they were in accordance with the Planning Act of 2008. Oversight of Local Planning Authorities falls under the scope of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Minister of State for Housing and Planning is the head of the MHCLG which is governed by the Communities and Local Government Committee.

The Minister of State for Housing and Planning/ Communities and Local Government Committee

The current Minister of State for Housing and Planning is The Rt Hon Gavin Barwell. His responsibilities include:

Housing supply policy
Home ownership policy
Planning policy
Planning casework oversight
Building regulations
Neighborhood planning

The role of the Communities and Local Government Committee is to monitor the policy and administration of the MHCLG. There are 11 MPs that serve on the Committee:
Mr Clive Betts
Mike Amesbury
Bob Blackman
Helen Hayes
Kevin Hollinrake
Andrew Lewer
Fiona Onasanya
Jo Platt
Mr Mark Prisk
Mary Robinson
Liz Twist

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The MHCLG is responsible for building regulations, planning systems and house building. There are 18 members of the Board including 6 MPs and 12 Directors. The MPs that serve on the board are:

-Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
-Dominic Raab MP, Minister of State for Housing
-Jake Berry MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, (Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth)
-Heather Wheeler MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
-Rishi Sunak MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
-Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Faith

Local Planning Authorities

 Local Planning Authorities deal with the day to day management of development throughout the UK. The National Planning Policy Framework has given individual LPAs the authority to make decisions and policy for their local areas as long as the policies comply with the Planning Act of 2008. They do not have any authority regarding national infrastructure projects which would fall under the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Each city, town and sometimes neighborhood has its own Local Planning Authority. Some are separate local departments while others operate within the City Council. There are over 330 different Local Planning Authorities in the UK.

Conclusion

There are 18 MPs that are directly involved in making policy regarding construction and property development in the UK. In addition, there are 12 directors that serve on the board of The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Finally, there are over 330 Local Planning Authorities throughout the UK that have policy-making authority on a local level.

Part
02
of two
Part
02

Member of Parliament Social Media Engagement

The UK Parliament is very active on Twitter, and many of the members use it daily to communicate with their constituents. They communicate everything from places they are going to meet with constituents, to news articles and topics up for a vote. Members of the UK Parliament don't appear to use LinkedIn anywhere near as much as they use Twitter.

FINDINGS

 Many members of the UK Parliament are quite active on Twitter and post multiple times a day. There are only a few that don't use Twitter, and on one site there are only 67 members listed that do not have accounts. This is only 10% of the entire parliament that doesn't use Twitter, and most of them are members of the Conservative Party.
For the members that do use Twitter, they post around 667 times a day (All MPs not any individual) and have about 32 re-tweets per tweet. On 1/20/18 they posted 620 tweets and the week of 1/14/18 they tweeted 6,452 times. When broken down by the party the tweets from 1/20/18 are:
-57% Labour MPs
-31% Conservative MPs
-7% Scottish National party MPs
-4% Liberal Democrat MP's
-<1% each Democratic Unionist MPs, Plaid Cymru MP's, and Sinn Fein MPs
The top 3 tweeters from 1/20/18 were Barry Sherman (14 tweets), Luke Pollard (11 tweets), and Chuka Umunna (11 tweets). The site MPsonTwitter is updated every day with the newest tweets from the day.
The top 50 tweets from 2017 are on topics such as the Trump administration, world events, results of voting in Parliament, and Theresa May (most directed at her). The most common names on the top 50 list are Jeremy Corbyn, Edward Miliband, and David Lammy all from the Labour Party.
So far in 2018, the trends have stayed the same, but more Conservative members are popping up in the top 50 tweets than they did last year. This year most of the tweets are directed at other members of Parliament or another party in Parliament. Many MPs are not afraid to share their opinion on current politics and world affairs or tag other members of Parliament in their tweets.
Some MPs on Twitter are influential among their constituents and others. Brandwatch ranked the top 10 influencers on Twitter by 'their ability to generate engagement and amplify their message.' The top 10 influencers are:
The MPs that use Twitter regularly are very personable in their tweets and don't hold back on their opinion. They aren't overly professional in many of their tweets, and they sound more like regular people the way they tweet. In the UK, this is likely received well by millennials and GenXer's because they are more commonly on social media and this gives them a way to contact their representatives directly. They are also able to get a better idea of what their representatives think of both big and small issues depending on how often the MP is on Twitter. Most MPs realize that they need to keep up with the times to continue in their positions and make a point to stay as relevant as they can with their constituents.
When it comes to the use of other social media, there are very few mentions of MPs being active anywhere else. There isn't very much on LinkedIn, and the social media page for the House of Lords lists various hashtags and accounts on Twitter that can be followed.

CONCLUSION

While there are many forms of social media, Twitter is a mecca of information when it comes to the UK Parliament. Most of the members are on Twitter, and those with active accounts post multiple times a day about a wide range of topics. They tend to have a more personal tone to their posts, and the topics are focused on issues either in the UK or the world.
Sources
Sources
From Part 01

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government - GOV.UK

gov.uk

Our governance - Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government - GOV.UK

gov.uk

Membership - Communities and Local Government Committee

parliament.uk

Communities and Local Government Committee

parliament.uk
g

Planning in the UK

gov.uk

Minister of State for Housing and Planning - GOV.UK

gov.uk

Buy A Plan - Planning Maps in minutes

buyaplan.co.uk
g

Planning Framework

gov.uk

Role - Communities and Local Government Committee

parliament.uk
From Part 02

List of Mps on Twitter by number of Tweets: MPsonTwitter.co.uk

mpsontwitter.co.uk

The Top Ten Most Influential MPs on Twitter | Brandwatch

brandwatch.com

List of MPs not using Twitter: MPsonTwitter.co.uk

mpsontwitter.co.uk

Overview of MPs' Twitter activity: MPsonTwitter.co.uk

mpsontwitter.co.uk

Get involved: House of Lords social media

parliament.uk

MPsonTwitter Top Tweets from 2017

mpsontwitter.co.uk

Search | Tweets by UK MPs | MPsonTwitter.co.uk

mpsontwitter.co.uk