Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give local authorities the power to impose completion targets as a condition when granting planning consents for housing.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government is clear that where sites have planning permission they should move ahead as quickly as possible. Over 1 million homes have been delivered since 2010, but we are taking forward a range of reforms to build even more homes more swiftly, including under the revised National Planning Policy Framework, and proposals to reform developer contributions, that were published on 5 March 2018.
Alongside the current reforms, my right hon friend the Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver Letwin), is leading a review to understand the main causes of the gap between housing completions and the amount of land allocated or granted permission in areas of high demand, which is due to report in time for the Budget 2018. A letter from Sir Oliver on the progress of his review into build out of planning permissions into homes was published on 13 March 2018.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will grant powers to local councils to set deadlines for the completion of roads in new developments.
Answered by Dominic Raab
It is right that developers are required to mitigate the impacts of development, and pay for the cumulative impacts of development on the infrastructure in their area.
Section 106 planning obligations (s278 in the case of highway requirements) are negotiated legal agreements between developers and local authorities. They are used to make development acceptable through delivery of affordable housing or infrastructure, or requiring development to be used in a particular way, and can be used to specify at what point in the development the infrastructure must be completed.
The planning reform package, which includes the revised draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the reforms to developer contributions, are fundamental to delivering the homes we need and set out a comprehensive approach to ensure that we get the right homes built in the right places of the right quality.
The reforms to developer contributions could provide a springboard for going further, and the Government will continue to explore options to create a clearer and more robust developer contribution system that really delivers for prospective homeowners and communities accommodating new development.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many towns are without a bank branch in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Wales and (d) Scotland.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury does not hold data on bank branch closures. The decision to close a branch remains a commercial judgement for banks. However, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.
The Access to Banking Protocol was a 2015 industry-wide agreement on bank branch closures, designed to help minimise their impact on customers and communities. In November 2016, Professor Russel Griggs published an independent ‘one year on’ review of the Protocol, following which the new Access to Banking Standard came into effect in May 2017. The Standard commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board.
99% of banks’ personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. At Autumn Budget 2017, my predecessor wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK are fully aware of the important services that remain available to them at their local Post Office, even if their bank branch is closed.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many consultations have been undertaken on proposed branch closures since the announcement of the Access to Banking Protocol; and how many of those consultations resulted in the branch remaining open.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury does not hold data on bank branch closures. The decision to close a branch remains a commercial judgement for banks. However, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.
The Access to Banking Protocol was a 2015 industry-wide agreement on bank branch closures, designed to help minimise their impact on customers and communities. In November 2016, Professor Russel Griggs published an independent ‘one year on’ review of the Protocol, following which the new Access to Banking Standard came into effect in May 2017. The Standard commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board.
99% of banks’ personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. At Autumn Budget 2017, my predecessor wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK are fully aware of the important services that remain available to them at their local Post Office, even if their bank branch is closed.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people who live more than (a) five miles and (b) 10 miles from a bank branch.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury does not hold data on bank branch closures. The decision to close a branch remains a commercial judgement for banks. However, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.
The Access to Banking Protocol was a 2015 industry-wide agreement on bank branch closures, designed to help minimise their impact on customers and communities. In November 2016, Professor Russel Griggs published an independent ‘one year on’ review of the Protocol, following which the new Access to Banking Standard came into effect in May 2017. The Standard commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board.
99% of banks’ personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. At Autumn Budget 2017, my predecessor wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK are fully aware of the important services that remain available to them at their local Post Office, even if their bank branch is closed.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.17 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing alcohol duties on levels of alcohol consumption.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand policy impacts, including the impact on public health.
Public Health England supports local authorities in commissioning effective alcohol prevention and treatment services by providing bespoke advice on good practice to help them meet the needs of their local population. In addition, the UK Chief Medical Officers have produced new low risk drinking guidelines which provide the public with the latest information about the health risks of different levels and patterns of drinking. The guidelines are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinking
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.17 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing alcohol duties on alcohol-related hospital admissions.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand policy impacts, including the impact on public health.
Public Health England supports local authorities in commissioning effective alcohol prevention and treatment services by providing bespoke advice on good practice to help them meet the needs of their local population. In addition, the UK Chief Medical Officers have produced new low risk drinking guidelines which provide the public with the latest information about the health risks of different levels and patterns of drinking. The guidelines are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinking
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.17 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing alcohol duties on alcohol-related deaths.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand policy impacts, including the impact on public health.
Public Health England supports local authorities in commissioning effective alcohol prevention and treatment services by providing bespoke advice on good practice to help them meet the needs of their local population. In addition, the UK Chief Medical Officers have produced new low risk drinking guidelines which provide the public with the latest information about the health risks of different levels and patterns of drinking. The guidelines are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinking
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse to date has been of installing or subsidising (a) uni-directional and (b) bi-directional charge points for electric vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To date, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has provided more than £100 million to support the installation of uni-directional chargepoints. The Department has not made an estimation of the cost and the number of uni-directional chargepoints that will be installed in the UK by 2025.
As announced at Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.
The Government recognises that Vehicle to Grid (bi-directional) charging capability could become an important service for our energy system, but is still at a relatively early stage of development. OLEV and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are providing funding of £20 million for innovative projects that develop future Vehicle to Grid products, services and knowledge. The outcome of these projects will help inform future development of bi-directional charging.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) uni-directional and (b) bi-directional charge points for electric vehicles have been installed and are operational within the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To date, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has provided more than £100 million to support the installation of uni-directional chargepoints. The Department has not made an estimation of the cost and the number of uni-directional chargepoints that will be installed in the UK by 2025.
As announced at Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.
The Government recognises that Vehicle to Grid (bi-directional) charging capability could become an important service for our energy system, but is still at a relatively early stage of development. OLEV and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are providing funding of £20 million for innovative projects that develop future Vehicle to Grid products, services and knowledge. The outcome of these projects will help inform future development of bi-directional charging.