Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, after 7 May, local authorities will be permitted to hold (1) remote proceedings, or (2) hybrid proceedings, for (a) council meetings, (b) Executive meetings, (c) committee meetings, (d) sub-committee meetings, or (e) other meetings at which members of the public are able to be present.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government keeps all policy under review. To extend the facility for councils to continue to meet remotely, or in hybrid form after 7 May 2021 would require primary legislation.
We have received representations from local authorities and sector representative organisations making the case for the continuation of remote meetings beyond 7 May 2021 and are carefully considering next steps in this area.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £1 billion Towns Fund announced in the Budget 2021, published on 3 March, each English region will receive, and how much of the £1 billion Stronger Towns Fund, launched on 4 March 2019, each English region received.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Towns Fund is helping level up the country, driving economic regeneration, productivity and growth. At Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced 45 Town Deals. Regional totals can be found in the Budget document (attached) here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/966868/BUDGET_2021_-_web.pdf.
These are in addition to the first seven Town Deals announced in October 2020, further details of which can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-town-deals-worth-almost-180-million-announced
The Towns Fund superseded the previously announced Stronger Towns Fund, ensuring even more places could be supported. No funding was committed through that Fund.
Further Town Deals will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of proposals for rail network improvements in Lancashire and Cumbria in Transport for the North’s plan for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department has worked closely with Northern leaders to develop a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network that benefits all regions of the North, including Lancashire and Cumbria. The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), which will outline a recommended way forward on scoping, phasing and sequencing of NPR, has carefully considered the views of stakeholders across the North of England to produce an investment programme that truly reflects the key transport priorities of the North.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) Transport for the North’s “preferred route” for Northern Powerhouse Rail, (2) how that route was chosen, and (3) whether the route can be built with the previously announced funding estimate of £42 billion.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government has been actively considering this as part of its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) which will outline the investment blueprint for Northern Powerhouse Rail, HS2 Phase 2b and other transport investment in the North and Midlands. Work is ongoing to establish the exact costs.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the two per cent increase in the number of fly-tipping incidents dealt with by local authorities in England in 2019/20 compared to 2018/19; and what plans they have to address fly-tipping.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Fly-tipping is a crime which blights local communities and the environment, and we are committed to tackling this unacceptable behaviour.
We have not made an assessment of the 2019/20 fly-tipping statistics for England published by Defra. A detailed breakdown of the incidents reported by local authorities is however available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england
We continue to work with partners to tackle this crime. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities' powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy set out our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime. We committed to strengthen sentences for fly-tipping and to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle this crime. We also committed to increasing penalties for fly-tipping in our manifesto.
Budget 2020 allocated up to £2million to support innovative solutions to tackle fly-tipping. We are exploring funding opportunities and priorities at this stage, including considering the role of digital solutions.
We are also preparing a number of legislative reforms to tackle waste crime, which will help to tackle fly-tipping. We are taking forward the commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. We also intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and to reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.
The Environment Bill also includes several measures to help tackle waste crime. The Bill will ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. These new powers will help ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.