Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on whether Historic England has responded to the proposal to develop the Riverside centre in Shrewsbury.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As the project sponsor, Shropshire Council are responsible for stakeholder relationships related to the delivery of the Riverside Centre project including those with Historic England.
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the administration of (a) general elections, (b) local elections and (c) land registration.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
No such assessment has been made of the potential merits of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Riverside town centre development on levels of economic regeneration in Shrewsbury.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
All of the Levelling Up Fund projects, including the Smithfield Riverside Redevelopment Programme, have undergone a robust assessment prior to award. The published Levelling Up Fund Round 2: Explanatory Note outlines the assessment and decision making process.
The published Levelling Up Fund Impact Evaluation Scoping Report sets out how the impact of the Fund will be estimated at the programme and project levels and at different geographies.
We continue to work with all successful applicants, including Shropshire Council, to ensure the benefits of the £4.8 billion worth of projects are delivered to communities as quickly as possible.
I thank him for his work to help us level up in Shropshire.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of town centre redevelopment on flooding in Shrewsbury.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Works to Smithfield Riverside, Station and Northern Corridor do need to consider issues of surface water management and flooding being located close to the River Severn and is an ongoing observation many consultees make. As a proactive response, and to help mitigate these concerns Shropshire Council is working with the Environment Agency alongside other local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and water companies through the River Severn Partnership.
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that all sources of flood risk need to be considered, including future flood risk, to ensure that any new development is safe for its lifetime without increasing the risk of flooding elsewhere.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the inclusion of park areas in (a) the town centre redevelopment in Shrewsbury and (b) other town centre redevelopments.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I want to commend my Hon Friend for securing £18.7 million through Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund for the redevelopment of Smithfield Riverside in Shrewsbury. This funding will be used to regenerate brownfield land, create new outdoor spaces and connect the area to the River Severn. This will be essential to realising the ambitions of Shrewsbury’s Big Town Plan, aligned to the Government’s Missions to Level Up the UK.
We are committed to an ongoing evaluation of these funds. The Department’s Evaluation Strategy DLUHC evaluation strategy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which was published in November 2022, sets out our commitment to undertake and learn from evaluation activity across all our policy areas.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of council tax increases.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Council tax decisions are and have always been for local authorities to take, but the Government maintains a referendum thresholds so that residents can have the final say over excessive increases. Each council is responsible for designing its own Local Council Tax Support scheme to provide help to council tax payers who might otherwise struggle to pay their bills. The Government has also provided councils with £100 million of additional funding to help vulnerable households with their bills in 2023-24.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce the timetable for submission of bids for the next stage of levelling up funding.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 140117 on 14 February 2023.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the law in relation to business rates to assist businesses in town centres.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Chancellor published the final report of the Business Rates Review at Autumn Statement 2021. The Government will bring forward legislation to implement the conclusions of the Review as soon as Parliamentary time allows. At the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022, the Chancellor announced a further package of business rates measures worth £13.6 billion over the next five years.
The package includes a retail, hospitality and leisure scheme that will provide a 75% relief to eligible properties in 2023/24, up to £110,000 per business. This scheme alone will provide £2.1 billion of taxpayer subsidy to high streets and town centres.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has plans to reform the planning system to reduce delays to (a) the North West Relief Road in Shrewsbury and (b) other major infrastructure projects.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Given the quasi-judicial nature of the planning system, I cannot comment on this specific project. However, delivering major infrastructure is integral to supporting our levelling up agenda. The department is already consulting on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
In addition, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill gives the Government powers to create a new Infrastructure Levy. As part of this, local authorities will be required to prepare an Infrastructure Delivery Strategy, which will make it clearer for communities as to what infrastructure will be provided, and when. They will be expected to engage with relevant infrastructure providers in determining these strategies.
The department is also bringing forward reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) consenting process. We have recently published a cross Government Action Plan, setting out reforms that will streamline and speed up the consenting process for major infrastructure by making it better, faster, greener, fairer and more resilient.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce the application date for Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19th January 2023, I am pleased to say there will be a third round of the Fund and we will outline more information on this in due course.