Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of flat-pack housing as a solution to housing shortages in rural areas.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This Government wants to see high quality housing built quickly and efficiently and is working closely with the housebuilding industry to encourage take up of innovative approaches, including advanced housing manufacturing construction.
The Government commissioned an industry-led Off-Site Housing Review report which was published in February 2013 and is available on the Construction Industry Council’s website at:
We are also encouraging the use of innovative construction techniques through our national planning guidance, published in March 2014, and our Affordable Homes 2015-18, Build to Rent and Housing Zones programmes.
In addition, Ministers have made a number of visits to housing developments recently, highlighting the quality and speed of construction benefits that advanced manufacturing can bring.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to explore the use of flat-pack housing as a means of tackling housing shortages.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This Government wants to see high quality housing built quickly and efficiently and is working closely with the housebuilding industry to encourage take up of innovative approaches, including advanced housing manufacturing construction.
The Government commissioned an industry-led Off-Site Housing Review report which was published in February 2013 and is available on the Construction Industry Council’s website at:
We are also encouraging the use of innovative construction techniques through our national planning guidance, published in March 2014, and our Affordable Homes 2015-18, Build to Rent and Housing Zones programmes.
In addition, Ministers have made a number of visits to housing developments recently, highlighting the quality and speed of construction benefits that advanced manufacturing can bring.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received on compensation for Christmas Island nuclear test veterans; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anna Soubry
In May 2013, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber) heard appeals from a group of Nuclear Test Veterans against the decisions on their war pension applications.
Those appellants who were unsuccessful subsequently, appealed to the Upper-tier Tribunal (UTT). On 5 November 2014, the UTT remitted the case back to the FTT. The Ministry of Defence is preparing for this remitted hearing. While this process remains under way, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, what estimate she has made of the total cost of repairs necessary to bring the school estate in England up to good condition.
Answered by David Laws
The Property Data Survey was designed to give a relative view of condition need. As stated in the report, the Property Data Survey condition need we have calculated is not the cost of addressing the need in the estate but a relative weighting of the complexity of addressing different types of condition need. Calculating the total cost of addressing the need in the estate would involve taking into account other factors, such as asbestos and structural need, which are excluded from the survey. As such we do not hold an estimate of the total cost of repairs necessary to bring the school estate in England up to good condition.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, whether the cost of maintaining, repairing or replacing a school building referred to in that report includes extra costs incurred because of the presence of asbestos.
Answered by David Laws
The information collected by the Property Data Survey Programme focused on the condition of the buildings. The surveyors who visited schools as part of the programme did not record any information on the presence of asbestos. The condition need identified through the surveys does not reflect any asbestos that may be present.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many blocks recorded as part of the Property Data Survey Programme were in (a) good, (b) satisfactory, (c) poor and (d) bad condition.
Answered by David Laws
The Property Data Survey does not provide an overall assessment of a block in the manner requested. The surveyors who visited schools made an assessment of the condition of individual construction types within each block, such as different types of roofs or walls for which we hold individual records, but did not attempt to rate blocks on a ‘good’ to ‘bad’ scale.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, how many schools were rated as being (a) good, (b) satisfactory, (c) poor and (d) bad condition.
Answered by David Laws
The Property Data Survey does not provide an overall assessment of schools in the manner requested. The surveyors who visited schools made an assessment of the condition of individual construction types within each block, such as different types of roofs or walls for which we hold individual records, but did not attempt to rate an entire school on a ‘good’ to ‘bad’ scale.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that billing authorities pass on in full to local councils council tax support funding which his Department earmarked for those councils.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
My Department has provided £3.3 billion to local authorities in respect of local council tax support schemes in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 and the same amount will be provided in 2015-16.
For the first year of local council tax support only, the Government set out an indicative amount of £40,450,000 attributable to parish and town councils in England. Latest statistics show that 95 per cent of this indicative amount was passed down in 2013-14.
As schemes are designed and implemented by billing authorities, it is not for Government to calculate on an ongoing basis the appropriate level of funding parishes required. However I have previously written to the small number of authorities which in 2014-15 had no intention to pass on any of the funding to express concern. I also wrote to all billing authorities on 19 February 2015 reminding them of the Government’s clear expectation that they should pass down funding to eligible parishes in 2015-16 and have placed a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
Every sector of local government should be doing their bit to keep council tax down for hard-working people. Although the referendum principle does not apply to town and parish councils in 2015-16, we continue to keep this option under active consideration. The Government has given new rights for taxpayers to approve or veto excessive council tax rises set by principal local authorities. If necessary, we are prepared to extend this to town and parish councils in the future if there is evidence of unreasonable hikes being imposed on taxpayers without their consent.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that parish councils will be fully compensated for effects arising from the implementation of localised council tax support schemes.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
My Department has provided £3.3 billion to local authorities in respect of local council tax support schemes in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 and the same amount will be provided in 2015-16.
For the first year of local council tax support only, the Government set out an indicative amount of £40,450,000 attributable to parish and town councils in England. Latest statistics show that 95 per cent of this indicative amount was passed down in 2013-14.
As schemes are designed and implemented by billing authorities, it is not for Government to calculate on an ongoing basis the appropriate level of funding parishes required. However I have previously written to the small number of authorities which in 2014-15 had no intention to pass on any of the funding to express concern. I also wrote to all billing authorities on 19 February 2015 reminding them of the Government’s clear expectation that they should pass down funding to eligible parishes in 2015-16 and have placed a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
Every sector of local government should be doing their bit to keep council tax down for hard-working people. Although the referendum principle does not apply to town and parish councils in 2015-16, we continue to keep this option under active consideration. The Government has given new rights for taxpayers to approve or veto excessive council tax rises set by principal local authorities. If necessary, we are prepared to extend this to town and parish councils in the future if there is evidence of unreasonable hikes being imposed on taxpayers without their consent.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date she plans to publish the results of the Property Data Survey Programme for schools.
Answered by David Laws
A national summary of the condition of the school estate using data from the Property Data Survey Programme has been published on the Government’s website and can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/property-data-survey-programme
The individual survey reports for schools have been shared directly with schools, local authorities and other relevant bodies responsible for the maintenance of school buildings.