Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs' oral statement of 2 September 2024, Official Report, column 37, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of suspending some arms exports to Israel on levels of community cohesion.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government is alert to the damage to community relations caused by the attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October last year and the subsequent conflict in Gaza, and that there remains potential for events to cause this to become heightened. For this reason, my Department constantly monitors trends relating to community tensions based on information from local government, the police and civil society partners including, since 2 September, representatives of a range of Jewish community organisations. Communities have expressed a wide range of responses to the announcement on 2 September, and we understand the concerns that have been raised by some Jewish communities. We continue to engage closely with our partners across communities to provide reassurance, reduce tensions and encourage cohesion.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the safety and security of independent council candidates in the context of the requirement to provide a visible address on election literature in local authority elections.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Imprints are required on any printed election material, including that of independent candidates at local elections, to provide voters with the level of transparency they rightly expect about who is campaigning. The imprint requirement also supports the rules on campaign spending limits. The requirement to include an address as part of the imprint is important to enable the police and the courts to enforce the rules relating to candidate election material with legal certainty.
The safety of election campaigners and candidates is our utmost priority. For this reason, while candidates must use a postal address where they can be contacted, a range of addresses are permitted under the imprint rules. Therefore, candidates have alternative options if they feel uncomfortable publishing their home address on printed election material. As outlined in Electoral Commission guidance, this can be an office or business address. Candidates may also use a PO Box address or other mailbox service.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when Scottish local authorities will be able to apply for Shared Prosperity Funding for specific projects.
Answered by Luke Hall
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK. A portion of the UKSPF will target places most in need across the UK, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities.
Places receiving funding will be asked to agree specific outcomes to target within a UK-wide framework. They will then develop investment proposals to be approved by the Government among a representative stakeholder group. A second portion of the Fund will be targeted differently to people most in need through bespoke employment and skills programmes that are tailored to local need.
To help local areas prepare over 2021/22 for the introduction of the UKSPF, we will provide additional UK funding to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches.
Further detail on the additional funding will be published soon and we will publish a UK-wide investment framework in Spring 2021 setting our further information on the UKSPF.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What progress the Government has made on the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will operate across the Union to make sure each of the four nations prosper. Decisions the design of the fund will need to be taken after a cross-Government Spending Review. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with interested parties whilst developing the fund.