Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that British Nationals (Overseas) who are arriving in the UK are protected from intimidation and hostility from groups in the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 8 April, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a new UK-wide Welcome Programme to support Hong Kong BN(O) status holders with a package worth £43.1 million.
The Government’s ambition is for Hong Kong BN(O)s to feel welcomed and supported and that is why, as a part of the integration package for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders, we have committed £300,000 to set up a new third party hate crime reporting service.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of shared services between local authorities and other parts of the public sector; and what guidance his Department gives to local authorities to encourage them to collaborate and share services with others wherever possible.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department does not issue guidance or collect data on the number of shared services between local authorities and other parts of the public sector.
However, the Local Government Association undertakes an annual survey of shared services in local government. It estimates that at least 96 per cent of councils across the country currently share services. Since 2012, sharing arrangements such as these have delivered over half a billion pounds of savings across local government.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) other stakeholders on enforcement of hate crime legislation following the UK's exit of the EU.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department for Communities and Local Government hosts the Cross-Government Hate Crime Programme which it co-chairs, alongside the Home Office. The programme brings together representatives from relevant Government departments, criminal justice agencies, and an Independent Advisory Group comprising victims, advocates and academics. Since reported increases in hate crime in the summer of 2016, the programme has held many meetings with affected communities and European states to reassure citizens that the UK will do all in its power to protect them from hate crimes. We have increased the capacity to monitor any future raised levels of tension and will respond swiftly to any emerging challenges. The Minister for Faith and Integration meets regularly with the National Police Chiefs' Council Lead for Hate Crime to monitor progress, and has also discussed these matters with Ministers in the Devolved Administrations.Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling online hate crime.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Formal negotiation with the internet industry has been led by officials from across Government, primarily within the Cyber-Hate Working Group and latterly within the Internet Sub-Group of the European Commission High Level Group on Hate Crime. Both of these have led to voluntary agreements being drawn up concerning the code of conduct of industry bodies and their response to complaints from members of the public, for example:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/hate_speech_code_of_conduct_en.pdf
The Government's Hate Crime Action Plan, published last July, includes a commitment to bring Ministers from across Whitehall together with industry bodies, victims and academics to discuss challenges and future opportunities to collaborate.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local community pubs.
Answered by Andrew Percy
We are proud to support the community pubs sector wherever possible. That is why we are co-funding the £3.6m More Than a Pub programme to support communities aspiring to own their local pubs. Yesterday I announced a further £50,000 for Pub is The Hub to help them to continue with their excellent work in helping pubs to provide an ever-expanding range of new community-focussed services and meaning that, since April 2013, we have provided Pub is the Hub with £320,000.
In addition the Government cut beer duty and scrapped the beer duty escalator in 2013, with beer duty then being cut again in successive budgets before being frozen at Budget 2016. The sector has stated this is a major factor in helping to stimulate growth.
We have also removed permitted development rights for the change of use or demolition of pubs the community has nominated as an Asset of Community Value. This allows for a local decision on any planning application and provides an opportunity for the community to comment on any proposals.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to allow local authorities to charge different rates to those set nationally for processing planning applications.
Answered by Lord Barwell
We have consulted on future options for planning application fees. We will announce a way forward shortly.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of some local authorities not having agreed upon and adopted a local plan by the end of 2017.
Answered by Lord Barwell
As of 30 November 2016, 37 (11%) of 338 local planning authorities had not published a local plan since 2004 and 90(27%) were yet to adopt one.
We expect all authorities to have a plan in place and to keep their plan up to date. We have put that requirement beyond doubt by legislating for it in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill. Information provided to my department from local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate indicates that by the end of 2017, one authority may not have published a plan and 66 may not have adopted a local plan.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local planning authorities have not yet (a) agreed and (b) adopted a local plan.
Answered by Lord Barwell
As of 30 November 2016, 37 (11%) of 338 local planning authorities had not published a local plan since 2004 and 90(27%) were yet to adopt one.
We expect all authorities to have a plan in place and to keep their plan up to date. We have put that requirement beyond doubt by legislating for it in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill. Information provided to my department from local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate indicates that by the end of 2017, one authority may not have published a plan and 66 may not have adopted a local plan.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the construction industry in delivering more modern and high-quality prefabricated housing units.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government wants a housing market where all firms embrace innovation to become more productive and deliver a better product to the consumer. Using modern methods of construction (MMC) has the potential to get homes built faster and to higher quality standards.
We are encouraging MMC through our housing and planning programmes including Affordable Homes 2016-21, Build to Rent and Housing Zones, and through our National Planning Practice Guidance.
We are also providing funding. In October, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government launched the Home Building Fund, which aims to provide further support to builders using MMC, in addition to custom builders, small and medium-sized builders, and new entrants to the market. Full details are published at www.gov.uk/homebuildingfund
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support first-time home buyers in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Help to Buy: Equity Loan is available across England, offering an equity loan of up to 20% and enabling people to buy a home with a deposit as low as 5%. From scheme outset in April 2013 to end June 2016, over 91,000 households across England purchased a home through the scheme, of which 81% were first-time buyers. In Yorkshire and the Humber, 8,921 households have purchased a home through the scheme, to end June 2016. In the 2016 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed continued support for home ownership through the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme.
Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee has been available across the United Kingdom since October 2013 and is due to close to new loans at the end of December 2016. It enables people to purchase a home with an 80-95% mortgage. Across the United Kingdom, over 86,000 households have purchased a home through the scheme to end June 2016, with 79% of sales to first-time buyers. In Yorkshire and the Humber, 8,177 households have purchased a home through the scheme, to end June 2016.
Help to Buy: ISA is available across the United Kingdom and enables people to save toward their first home. The government offers a 25% bonus on savings, up to a maximum of £3,000 bonus. Over 15,000 Help to Buy: ISA bonuses have been claimed to the end of June 2016, which has supported more than 11,000 home purchases. To end June 2016, the scheme has supported 1,210 households in Yorkshire and the Humber in buying their own home.
We are spending £9.4 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts across England by 2021 (2020-21). We published the prospectus for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes 2016-21 programme on 13 April and bidding closed on 2 September. The Homes and Communities Agency is currently assessing bids before we announce allocations in December. Assessments are being made on the basis of the criteria set out in the national prospectus rather than any pre-set regional allocations. More detail on the bidding process for new bids through continuous market engagement will be published shortly.
We are committed to building starter homes with a minimum 20% discount for first time buyers between the ages of 23 and 40 to help them into home ownership. We will set out our future plans in the forthcoming Housing White Paper. The Homes and Communities Agency is working with Councils in Yorkshire and the Humber to identify specific sites that could be brought forward for starter homes as part of our £1.2 billion fund to bring forward starter homes on brownfield land.