Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average length of time it takes for the Building Safety Regulator to complete its approval process following application for building control approval.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Building Safety Regulator currently has 360 employees which equates to 350.4 full-time equivalent, with an additional 8 staff who are contractor staff filling roles until they are permanently filled.
Additional funding has been provided to the Building Safety Regulator from government to support a further recruitment campaign. This will enable the recruitment of a further 190 staff which will increase staffing levels to full complement.
The overall average length of time taken for the Building Safety Regulator to complete its approval process following applications for building control approval is currently 23.3 weeks.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Building Safety Regulator has a full complement of staff.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Building Safety Regulator currently has 360 employees which equates to 350.4 full-time equivalent, with an additional 8 staff who are contractor staff filling roles until they are permanently filled.
Additional funding has been provided to the Building Safety Regulator from government to support a further recruitment campaign. This will enable the recruitment of a further 190 staff which will increase staffing levels to full complement.
The overall average length of time taken for the Building Safety Regulator to complete its approval process following applications for building control approval is currently 23.3 weeks.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many employees the Building Safety Regulator has.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Building Safety Regulator currently has 360 employees which equates to 350.4 full-time equivalent, with an additional 8 staff who are contractor staff filling roles until they are permanently filled.
Additional funding has been provided to the Building Safety Regulator from government to support a further recruitment campaign. This will enable the recruitment of a further 190 staff which will increase staffing levels to full complement.
The overall average length of time taken for the Building Safety Regulator to complete its approval process following applications for building control approval is currently 23.3 weeks.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to make available to the Northern Ireland Executive funds received from the Government's application to the EU Solidarity Fund to help flood affected areas.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Government submitted an initial UK application to the EU Solidarity Fund on Friday 26 February and we continue to refine our cost estimations.
At the date the application was made, the Government had not been approached on this matter by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Government's recent application to the EU Solidarity Fund to help flood affected areas.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Government submitted an initial UK application to the EU Solidarity Fund on Friday 26 February and we continue to refine our cost estimations.
At the date the application was made, the Government had not been approached on this matter by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent progress has been made on the Government's application to the EU Solidarity Fund to help flood affected areas.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Government submitted an initial UK application to the EU Solidarity Fund on Friday 26 February and we continue to refine our cost estimations.
At the date the application was made, the Government had not been approached on this matter by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to offer compulsory purchase payments at 150 per cent of market value.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
No. The Compensation Code is based on the principle of equivalence, which says that the owner of the land taken should be paid neither less nor more than his loss. Paying compensation at more than market value would make public development more expensive and some schemes would become unviable. Offering such payments would not necessarily speed up negotiations or remove the need for compulsory purchase.
The Department issued guidance on the compulsory purchase process on the 29 October 2015 (web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compulsory-purchase-process-and-the-crichel-down-rules-guidance ) which encourages acquiring authorities to consider all of the costs involved in the compulsory purchase process when assessing the appropriate payments for purchase of land in advance of compulsory purchase.