Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason he called in the planning application for the Parkside development in Newton-le-Willows; and if he will publish the documentation his Department holds in relation to that decision.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This planning application (P/2018/0048/OUP) for the construction of up to 92,900 m2 of employment floorspace (Use Class B8 with ancillary B1(a)) and associated servicing and infrastructure on the site of former Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows, was called-in by the Secretary of State on 21 May 2020. The reasons for the call in are as set out in the letter, and I am now arranging for a copy to be sent to the Honourable Member for St Helens North. It would not be appropriate for me to add anything.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the timeline for lead councils set out in the Annex of his Department's Towns Fund prospectus published in November 2019; and if he will publish updated guidance on the roll out of the Towns Fund for Town Deal Boards.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We are taking a pragmatic approach to the impact Covid-19 will have on the timeline published in the Towns Fund Prospectus and will take the best course of action for all parties involved. The further guidance set to be published for local authorities will acknowledge the effects of the current circumstances and will be released in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to waive obligations on local authorities to reply to freedom of information requests as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
During the current pandemic, we recognise that resources may be unavailable to deal with FOI Requests. Although statutory deadlines will not be extended, the Regulator, the Information Commissioner, has stated that organisations will not be penalised during this extraordinary period.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed reduction in business rates for pubs will include clubs in local communities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department published guidance to help local authorities implement the business rates pubs discount. The guidance set out the eligibility criteria for the £1000 discount for pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000. The guidance also set out the Government’s policy intention that to be eligible premises should; be open to the general public, allow free entry other than when occasional entertainment is provided, allow drinking without requiring food to be consumed; and permit drinks to be purchased at a bar.
The guidance can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-pubs-discount-2020-to-2021-local-authority-guidance
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of St Helens Council on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
My Department is ensuring that councils have the necessary information to prepare effectively and that there are opportunities to raise and address specific local questions and concerns. I have asked every council to designate a Brexit Lead Officer who will oversee local preparations for Brexit and act as a contact point between the government and local areas. All 354 councils quickly designated a Brexit Lead Officer and the department is using them to share information, guidance and advice.
There has been extensive engagement with the sector, including a series of events for all councils, a monthly meeting between the Secretary of State and council leaders, a monthly teleconference with all Chief Executives and Brexit Lead Officers, and weekly dialogue with a network of nine Chief Executives who represent their regions on Brexit. There are also regular mailouts, bulletins and dedicated web pages to bring together relevant information, advice and guidance on Brexit from across Whitehall.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the per capita funding for St Helens Council is in the current financial year.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Department’s preferred measure of local government funding is Core Spending Power (CSP). The Department does not publish CSP per capita, but CSP per dwelling is published on the Department’s website:
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of refuges for victims of domestic violence in (a) St Helens borough and (b) the North West.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Department does not hold centrally the availability of refuges for victims of domestic violence in St Helens borough and the North West.
We are currently consulting on the Future Delivery of Support to Victims and their Children in Accommodation-Based Domestic Abuse Services closing on 2 August. The proposals for a statutory duty will require local authorities to convene a Local Partnership Board. Local Partnership Boards will be responsible for robustly assessing need for support for victims and their children in safe accommodation, developing, agreeing and publishing an area-wide Domestic Abuse Strategy, ensuring local commissioning of support services is in line with this to meet the diverse support needs of victims and their children and report to central Government on progress.
It is our intention that the proposals for a statutory duty, subject to the outcome of the public consultation, will form part of the Domestic Abuse Bill at a later stage.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of veterans who are homeless in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) St Helens borough.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
MHCLG does not collect this information.
We have put in place a new statutory duty under the Homelessness Reduction Act, requiring the Secretary of State for Defence to refer members of the armed forces to local authority housing services, where local authorities will develop a personalised housing plan, tailored to their needs, to prevent them from becoming homelessness. Where veterans are homeless and vulnerable as a result of having served in the armed forces, local authorities have a duty to house them.
Further, we have worked with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that the additional £1 million MHCLG has made available specifically for veterans is most effectively positioned to help them in the best way possible. It could go towards the funding of new specialist staff, or training of existing staff to provide veterans with the bespoke support they need as they navigate civilian life. It may also be used to create new pathways to existing specialist support services on offer, ranging from assistance to access supported housing to mental health and PTSD provision.
This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. Already, the Rough Sleeping Initiative has provided over 2,600 additional bed spaces and 750 more support staff. In all, the Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s definition is of a coalfield community; and which local authority areas contain an identified coalfield community.
Answered by Jake Berry
This Department does not hold a formal definition of a coalfield community.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which funding programmes his Department makes available for specific use by coalfield communities; and how much funding has been allocated through those programmes in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government has made a clear commitment to put places at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. The Government has delivered on this commitment by investing across England through the Local Growth Fund. We have also agreed nine devolution deals with core cities across England and introduced seven metro mayors, with an eighth to be elected in the North of Tyne this year.
Furthermore, we have worked with devolved administrations and local partners throughout Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to negotiate ambitious City and Growth deals, creating strong partnerships to deliver investment throughout the UK. Wider responsibility for regeneration in coalfield communities in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland is a responsibility largely devolved to the governments of those nations.
Since 2010, we have invested almost £70 million in coalfields communities through the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT). This investment was designed to assist the CRT in becoming a self-sustaining organisation. This funding is broken down by year:
2010 | £13,741,038 |
2011 | £16,009,940 |
2012 | £11,673,971 |
2013 | £17,975,050 |
2014 | £9,653,750 |
2015 | £596,250 |
The Government also announced in the autumn budget that we would invest £8 million to support repairs to village halls, miners’ welfare facilities and Armed Forces organisations’ facilities.
In England, we believe that it is the role of local communities to make decisions on investment into the regeneration of their local economies. This is why we have empowered them to take decisions over investment by devolving over £9 billion of funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships between 2015 and 2021.
Looking to the future, the government is committed to the creation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which aims to reduce inequalities between places by investing in those economies that are the furthest behind. We intend to consult widely on its design, and we encourage all those with an interest in the fund to respond.