Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to protect the green belt and countryside from social and environmental damage cause by over-development.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework provides strong protections for the Green Belt. If a local authority proposes to release Green Belt land for development, the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test requires evidenced justification that it has examined all other reasonable options for meeting its development needs. The Framework also expects that, where the Green Belt has to be de-designated, there should be improvements to the quality of the environment in the remaining Green Belt. Additionally, the Framework encourages local authorities to prioritise brownfield land wherever practicable.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that food parcels being distributed among Jewish and Muslim communities during the covid-19 outbreak are culturally appropriate and in line with the dietary requirements of those communities.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The offer has been developed at pace in response to the Covid emergency. The shielding cohort is diverse and we recognise some of the boxes contain products that may not be permitted culturally or for faith reasons by some groups.
In the standardised box which is delivered to individuals there is a note which explains that, should the individual have any allergies, or any religious or cultural dietary requirements, and are not able to eat some of the food and feel that the remaining contents of the package are not enough supplies for one week, they should contact their local authority.
The packages include tinned meat and tinned tuna, but as the product is packaged there is no risk of individuals having to touch foodstuffs that are unsuitable.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to support local authorities to provide (a) free parking, (b) exemptions from local congestion charges and (c) other incentives to increase the number of people visiting (i) high streets and (ii) town centres.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In line with the Government’s position on localism, parking is the responsibility of local authorities and it is for them to determine what is appropriate in their own area. However, central government does have an interest in how car parks are managed and recognises the important link between parking provision and the vitality of our high streets and town centres.
More broadly, this Government is delivering an accelerated £1 billion Future High Streets Fund to support local areas in England to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future sustainability. The Government is also providing support to local areas with a?High Streets Task Force,?giving high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive by providing hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts. In addition, we have introduced permitted development rights for the change of use to enable businesses to adapt and diversify to respond to emerging consumer demands with a wider range of retail, leisure, residential and other uses.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to tackle (a) antisemitism and (b) other hate crimes in (i) Bury South constituency and (ii) the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
All hatred including antisemitism, is completely unacceptable and has no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms.
We recognise that there has been an increase in reported religiously motivated hate crime incidents across the country.
We are also aware that Greater Manchester had the highest?number of antisemitic incidents outside Greater London over the last 10 years (2008-2018) according to the?Community Security Trust,?who are one of our key partners in tackling antisemitism and the main body reporting on the number of incidents each year.
That is why?we became the first country in the world to adopt the working definition of antisemitism as set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.?We?are?making sure the police record hate crimes disaggregated by faith?and our refreshed Hate Crime Action Plan reaffirms our commitment to combating antisemitism and our support for Jewish communities. We?also are providing?£14 million?this?year, and provided over £65 million to date, for the Protective Security Grant to protect Jewish schools and?community buildings.
We have committed?just over £1.5 million for projects to tackle racially and religiously motivated hatred from 2018 to 2020, and have just launched a new Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant Scheme to promote integration and tackle hate crime, including antisemitism. We have also committed £200,000 of Home Office funding for a new national police hub to tackle the emerging threat of online hate crime.? The hub went live in January 2018.