Written Statements

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

Monday 3 February 2014

Regional Growth Fund

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)]

In July 2013, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced the 102 projects and programmes selected for support in round 4 of the regional growth fund (RGF).

RGF Round 4

In common with the new six-month timetable to agree final terms with Government which was placed on all RGF recipients for round 3, each of these round 4 projects and programmes was expected to sign its final agreement by 17 January 2014.

I can inform the House that 75 of those negotiations were completed before that date. In addition, since 17 January 2014, a further five round 4 negotiations have been completed.

For the remainder of the cases the due diligence process has shown issues that will require more time to resolve and I have therefore agreed short extensions to these cases so that they can be finalised very soon.

RGF Rounds 1 to 3

The rounds 1 and 2 process for finalising an agreement with Government is now complete and the round 3 process is 98% complete with one company still to agree final terms on its offer.

Operational projects and programmes

Taking all four rounds together, this means there are now 340 projects and programmes operational across England—an increase of 157 on this time last year.

We will publish our 2014 annual monitoring report later this year, which will detail the progress these schemes have made in job delivery and securing private sector investment.

Exceptional RGF

In my written ministerial statement of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 33WS, I announced that Ministers would consider bids to the RGF on an exceptional basis—that is applications from organisations with credible plans for growth and job delivery where a decision is needed imminently in order to realise those plans.

We have finalised one exceptional RGF award with JC Bamford Excavators Ltd for £2.9 million, helping to create and safeguard almost 400 jobs in the west and east midlands. This award means the local area is benefiting from private sector job creation and investment in a way that would not have been possible in the time frames of the normal RGF bidding rounds.

Withdrawals

In my written ministerial statement of 21 May 2013, Official Report, column 61WS, I published a list of projects and programmes that had withdrawn from the RGF process. Below is a list of further withdrawals since that date. In most cases projects and programmes withdraw themselves during contractual negotiations, when it becomes clear to them that they do not wish to proceed with their plans as set out in their original applications. This can be due to a number of reasons, such as a changing market outlook or a reorganisation of their own future planned investment priorities. In all cases all the money awarded to the project and programme is recycled back into the fund so that other companies can benefit from the support of the RGF.

Security Vetting Appeals Panel (Triennial Review)

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)]

On 4 July 2013, I made a written statement to Parliament announcing the triennial review of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel—Official Report, column 59WS. I am now pleased to announce the completion of the review.

The Security Vetting Appeals Panel (SVAP) provides a final means of challenging a decision to refuse or withdraw security clearance as part of the Government’s policy on national security vetting.

The review concludes that the functions performed by the SVAP are still required and that it should be retained as a non-departmental public body (NDPB). The review also looked at the governance arrangements for the body in line with guidance on good corporate governance as set out by the Cabinet Office. The report makes some recommendations in this respect which will be implemented shortly.

I am very grateful to Sir Alex Allan for his work on this review and to all who contributed. The full report of the review of the SVAP panel can be found on the gov.uk website and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Floods (Response and Recovery)

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)]

I am providing an update for the House on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s work on flood recovery arising from the east coast tidal surge on 5 and 6 December and the widespread severe weather since Christmas.

The Bellwin scheme has been made available to authorities affected by the severe weather events in England from 5 December 2013 to date to assist with the immediate costs associated with these events. A total of 53 local authorities have notified us of their intention to claim.

Following my written ministerial statement on the 14 January, Official Report, column 24WS confirming my Department’s lead responsibility for the recovery from the severe weather events, I announced my intention to meet local authority leaders who had been impacted by these events to hear their concerns. I have met with authorities from East Anglia, Kent, Yorkshire and Humberside already, and will meet with leaders from other affected areas and voluntary sector organisations over the next fortnight to hear from them about the impact of the severe weather and the work they are undertaking to help communities return to normal.

In my written ministerial statement of 17 January, Official Report, column 33-34WS, I announced a £6.7 million severe weather recovery scheme to provide additional financial support to local authorities in England to help them tackle community impacts and damage to roads and bridges. I am pleased to confirm that my Department will contribute a further £300,000 to the severe weather recovery scheme to bring the total funding available to £7 million. This support is in addition to the Bellwin scheme, and any insurance claims and existing central/local government obligations. We will be writing to all local authorities shortly with details of the £7 million scheme and how they may apply for assistance.

For those areas still in response, I can confirm that my Department’s national fire assets have been deployed to those areas most in need including the Somerset levels where 13 high-volume pumps are in place of which eight are in action and five are being held in strategic reserve.

A further announcement on support for local authorities will be made in the coming days.

New Homes Bonus

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)]

I refer to my written ministerial statement of 16 December 2013, Official Report, columns 69-70WS announcing provisional new homes bonus allocations for local authorities.

The representation period closed on 10 January 2014. We received 22 representations. These have been taken into account in finalising the figures.

We will pay almost £917 million of new homes bonus for local authorities in England. This includes instalments from the previous three years of the bonus.

These allocations bring the total amount of funding awarded under the new homes bonus since it began in April 2011 to £2.2 billion. This total recognises delivery of almost 550,000 homes, and over 93,000 empty properties being brought back into use.

The bonus will be paid in respect of 171,000 homes from October 2012 to October 2013 including 133,000 extra homes and 38,000 long-term empty properties brought back into use. The allocations also include an affordable homes enhancement, which totals £15 million in respect of 43,000 new affordable homes.

Commenced in April 2011, the bonus is based on the council tax of additional homes and those brought back into use, with an additional amount for affordable homes. Each year’s bonus award is paid for six years. It ensures that those local authorities which promote and welcome growth can share in its economic benefits, and build the communities in which people want to live and work. This Government introduced the new homes bonus as a permanent part of the local government finance system. This is the fourth year of payments on the same basis as the original policy and the Government will maintain the bonus as an important incentive for councils to build more houses for their communities. We will continue to pay the bonus in the future to ensure that places that have built houses are properly rewarded for doing so.

Authorities can choose to spend the money as they see fit, from providing new facilities, to protecting front-line services or simply freezing council tax. The incentive of the new homes bonus is complemented by the local retention of business rates and community infrastructure levy, to ensure that local communities can share the benefits of new development.

The Department is writing to local authorities confirming their final allocations and I am writing to all Members of Parliament and local authority leaders in England.

A full list of the allocations is being placed in the Library of the House. Further information on the bonus can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-number-of-available-homes/supporting-pages/new-homes-bonus

Visa Regulations

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister for Immigration (Mr Mark Harper)]

I am today announcing proposals to change the fees for immigration and nationality applications made to the Home Office and for services provided by the Department. The Government review these fees on a regular basis and make appropriate changes as necessary.

In developing these proposals, the Home Office has sought to limit most increases to 4%. There are further targeted increases to bring dependant fees in line with main application fees, to register as a British citizen and some premium services. A staggered rise has been applied to the long-term visit visa (greater than six months) with a higher rise to the two and five-year visas to ensure the 10-year visa stays at its current level. We are also introducing a reduced fee for those applying to work within areas regarded as shortage occupations and to the direct airside transit visa.

The Home Office has given careful consideration to its fee levels, to ensure they provide the funding necessary to operate effective immigration controls and invest in improving service levels to customers. This is balanced against the need to ensure that the UK continues to attract and welcome the “brightest and best” migrants from around the world and those that make a valued contribution to British society. Given the ongoing need to reduce public spending, we believe it is right that we continue to reduce the contribution made by UK taxpayers towards delivering the immigration system by asking those who use and benefit directly from the system to make a greater contribution.

For certain application categories, we will continue to set fees higher than the administrative cost to reflect their value to successful applicants. This helps to provide resources to run the UK immigration system and enables the Home Office to set lower fees elsewhere in support of wider Government objectives to attract those businesses, workers, students and visitors who most benefit the UK. This includes the short-term visit visa which remains significantly below cost.

I have laid regulations for fees set higher than cost. In addition, I will shortly lay another set of regulations in Parliament for fees set at or below cost. Further details explaining all fees changes are provided in the explanatory memoranda for both sets of regulations. Subject to parliamentary approval the Government intend to bring new fees into force from 6 April 2014 with some fees for premium services overseas coming into effect on 31 March 2014.

The attached table, setting out all the proposed fees, includes indicative unit costs for financial year 2014-15. The unit cost is the estimated average cost to the Home Office of processing each application. Unit costs are published so it is clear which fees we set over cost and by how much.

Full details on how to apply for all of the Home Office’s products and services will be provided on the Home Office website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.

UK/France Summit

Monday 3rd February 2014 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

On 31 January 2014, I welcomed President François Hollande to RAF Brize Norton for the third UK/France summit. We discussed the security and prosperity of our two nations including greater co-operation on defence and security, space and energy. I am placing copies of the agreements setting out plans for closer ties between our two countries in the Libraries of both Houses.