Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the al Mustafa Welfare Trust about Sheikh Mishary Alafasy's speaking tour.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is alert to the damage to community cohesion caused by antisemitism and is absolutely committed to rooting out this abhorrent form of hatred. We understand the concerns that have been raised by some Jewish organisations in relation to Sheikh Mishary Alafasy’s speaking tour and, whilst we are not aware of a broader impact on community cohesion, we will continue to be watchful as part of our routine community tensions monitoring. The Government has not met with al Mustafa Welfare Trust about the speaking tour.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the speaking tour by Sheikh Mishary Alafasy on community cohesion.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is alert to the damage to community cohesion caused by antisemitism and is absolutely committed to rooting out this abhorrent form of hatred. We understand the concerns that have been raised by some Jewish organisations in relation to Sheikh Mishary Alafasy’s speaking tour and, whilst we are not aware of a broader impact on community cohesion, we will continue to be watchful as part of our routine community tensions monitoring. The Government has not met with al Mustafa Welfare Trust about the speaking tour.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research note by the Policy Exchange The Muslim Council of Britain's New Leadership.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HMG does not engage with the Muslim Council of Britain. No assessment has been made of this research note.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the RSPB and other wildlife charities on the use of nets by developers to prevent birds nesting in trees.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published routinely on gov.uk and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has given to planning authorities on the use of nets by developers to prevent birds nesting in trees.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Planning practice guidance is available on the Natural Environment and there is standing advice for local planning authorities to assess the impacts of development on wild birds . No planning guidance has been issued on the use of nets by developers to prevent birds nesting in trees.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) number and (b) effectiveness of nets used by developers to prevent birds nesting in trees.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
My Department does not hold this information. The Government is committed to the protection of birds and trees and recognises their significant value. The revised National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by minimising the impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity. All wild birds are protected by provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the merits of the UK continuing to send representatives to sit on the Committee of the Regions.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Committee of the Regions can make a significant contribution to the decision making processes of the European Union on issues such as transport, the economy, social and territorial cohesion, and it is right that there is a UK delegation to the Committee whilst the UK is a member of the European Union. There is no direct cost to the UK taxpayer.
Members of the Committee of the Regions who participate in plenary sessions, Bureau meetings, commission meetings and meetings of working parties or joint committees are entitled to travel expenses, a flat-rate travel allowance and a flat-rate meeting allowance; with the costs met by the European Union’s Committee of the Regions.
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, we do not anticipate that the UK would continue to be members of the Committee of the Regions, nor would we have a mandate to remain within this body.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost of sending UK representatives to the Committee of the Regions in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Committee of the Regions can make a significant contribution to the decision making processes of the European Union on issues such as transport, the economy, social and territorial cohesion, and it is right that there is a UK delegation to the Committee whilst the UK is a member of the European Union. There is no direct cost to the UK taxpayer.
Members of the Committee of the Regions who participate in plenary sessions, Bureau meetings, commission meetings and meetings of working parties or joint committees are entitled to travel expenses, a flat-rate travel allowance and a flat-rate meeting allowance; with the costs met by the European Union’s Committee of the Regions.
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, we do not anticipate that the UK would continue to be members of the Committee of the Regions, nor would we have a mandate to remain within this body.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities to ensure that unused brownfield sites are redeveloped for housing.
Answered by Dominic Raab
On 5 March 2018 the Government issued for consultation our proposed revision of the National Planning Policy Framework, which sets out stronger and clearer expectations of local planning authorities in their approach to making full, efficient use of brownfield land. The Draft Framework says that local planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield within settlements for homes, support opportunities to remediate degraded land and promote the development of under-utilised land and space above buildings and infrastructure, especially for housing. Consultation continues to 10 May 2018.
Each local authority is now required to publish a register of the brownfield land in its area suitable for new homes. So far, around 28,000 hectares of developable land, on over 17,000 sites, have been drawn to the attention of house-builders by this method. Local authorities can also grant permission in principle to sites on these registers, providing early certainty about the possible extent of housing-led development on a site.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage innovation in local government procurement practices.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Government and the Local Government Association are working together to improve local government procurement.
This work is supported by the Local Government Association’s National Procurement Strategy and its National Advisory Group for Local Government Procurement.
The National Advisory Group is looking specifically at how to improve innovation in procurement.