Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the number of pubs that will benefit from the extension of rural rates relief.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
As of 31 December 2014, 4,690 businesses were in receipt of mandatory rural rate relief. The Department does not hold data on how many of these businesses are pubs, so it is not possible to estimate the number of pubs that will benefit from the extension of rural rate relief. As announced at Autumn Statement we are doubling the level of rural rate relief. Eligible pubs and petrol stations with a rateable value of £12,500 or below will benefit from 100% relief.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect on pubs of a rise in the small business rate relief threshold.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
From 1 April 2017 we are permanently doubling the level of small business rate relief. Eligible properties with a rateable value of £12,000 and below will benefit from 100% relief. This means that 600,000 small businesses will pay no business rates at all. Eligible businesses with a property with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 will be subject to tapered relief. From 1 April, around 17,000 pubs may be eligible for small business rate relief, depending on the rateable value of other property used by the business, with around 13,000 potentially eligible for 100% relief, compared to around 4,000 now.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on requiring landlords to install carbon monoxide alarms in all private rented sector properties with gas appliances.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government has taken steps to protect tenants in the private rented sector from death and injury arising from carbon monoxide poisoning in their homes.
Since October 2015, private rented sector landlords are required to have a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation where a solid fuel burning appliance is used, as these appliances have the highest risk of accidental poisoning. The landlord must make sure that these alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy.
In addition, the gas safety regulations require landlords to maintain gas systems in a safe condition and carry out annual gas safety checks.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of devolution of the adult skills budget on reducing the skills shortage in the North of England.
Answered by Andrew Percy
The Government's strategy to better meet the needs of employers, learners and local areas is to establish a skills system that is responsive to local economic needs. For those combined authorities with signed devolution deals this means assuming responsibility for the Adult Education Budget (AEB) in 2018/19, enabling them to commission outcomes which deliver the skills needed locally. Devolution deals in the North of England all include full devolution of AEB from 2018/19, enabling areas of the North to tackle their local skills shortages.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
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 devolve powers to the local level under the Northern Powerhouse.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Devolution deals are progressing well across the north having already been agreed with Greater Manchester, Sheffield, Tees Valley, the North East and Liverpool, all of which will see directly elected mayors introduced in return for substantial new powers and budgets. Discussions with other areas across the north are progressing.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
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 average benefit to local economies of devolution deals.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The seven devolution deals that the Government has agreed will give local leaders direct control over the levers of growth in their economies, including new powers and substantial budgets ranging from transport, to adult skills, to long term investment funds. The size of these funds is substantial, for example the West Midlands will receive over £1 billion of additional investment. It will be for mayors and local leaders to set ambitions for growth and job creation as a result of these deals. By giving local areas control over key policies and resources, and making sure that local government more efficient, effective and as possible, devolution deals will give these places the tools that they need to drive forward growth for the benefit of the whole local economy.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homeowners have accessed (a) Help to Buy and (b) Right to Buy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Up to September 2015, over 128,000 homes had been purchased with assistance of Help to Buy Equity and Mortgage Guarantee Loans.
Since 2010/11, over 53,000 thousand tenants have purchased their homes through Right to Buy (and preserved Right to Buy for housing association tenants). The voluntary scheme extending to housing associations will give 1.3 million more families the opportunity to do this.
The Department publishes statistics on Help to Buy and Right to Buy at:
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
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 help local authorities support the economy in the North of England.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
We want local authorities to focus their energies on driving growth in their areas, working in partnership with Local Enterprise Partnerships. That is why we are devolving more powers to councils to ensure the right decisions are made by local people who know their own communities best.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what amount his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) the Government Car and Despatch Agency and (b) other car hire in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
Under this Government, the DCLG Group is making a 41 per cent real terms saving against its running costs by 2014-15. This equates at least £532 million of taxpayers’ money in administrative savings.
As part of these savings, my Department has made substantial reductions to the cost of Ministerial cars. Instead of the six cars previously used, the Department now maintains only two cars between six Ministers.
There is a business case for some provision. The Government Car Service provides secure transport for Ministers carrying sensitive and confidential government documents. All travel arrangements are carried out in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Notwithstanding, our reforms have cut the cost by two-thirds, as shown in the table below.
Financial Year | Government Car Service |
2007-08 | £401,600 |
2008-09 | £418,300 |
2009-10 | £488,276 |
2010-11 | £321,592 |
2011-12 | £202,819 |
2012-13 | £199,191 |
2013-14 | £191,813 |
Note: Based on DfT methodology for Government Car Service spending, as published and presented to Parliament. Figures exclude VAT which is recoverable.
Additional spending on other hired car services in 2009-10 totalled £28,266, including chauffeurs and limousines (comprehensive figures are not held prior to this). By contrast, spending by 2013-14 has been just cut to just £124.
To provide some comparative figures, the table below, illustrates the spending on Ministerial cars over the last three years of the Labour Government, by Department (excluding other hired car services):
Government Car & Despatch Agency spending | Total (2007-10) |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and DBERR & DIUS) | £1,863,036 |
Home Office | £1,474,894 |
Department for Work and Pensions | £1,351,426 |
Department for Communities and Local Government | £1,308,176 |
Department of Health | £1,278,190 |
Cabinet Office | £1,262,490 |
Department for Children, Schools and Families | £1,196,893 |
HM Treasury | £1,155,789 |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | £1,091,934 |
Ministry of Justice | £938,930 |
Department for Transport | £845,479 |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | £806,189 |
Department for Culture, Media and Sport | £790,297 |
Department for International Development | £755,556 |
Northern Ireland Office | £655,551 |
Other (e.g. Whips / Leaders’ Offices where itemised) | £544,900 |
Law Officers’ Department | £474,731 |
Department for Energy and Climate Change (two years) | £402,130 |
Wales Office | £372,904 |
Scotland Office | £277,913 |
Ministry of Defence (two years) | £191,443 |
Data sources: 22 July 2008, Official Report, Column 117WS; 16 July 2009, Official Report, Column 80WS; 28 October 2010, Official Report, Column 23WS.
My Department’s tangible savings are in stark contrast to the Leader of the Opposition’s taxpayer-funded Short Money travel allowance, which has risen year on year since May 2010 – a fact which betrays a disregard for the need for all parts of the public sector to their bit to help pay off Labour’s deficit.