Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2023 to Question 1227 on Local Government Finance: Audit, how many new professionals have qualified to audit local authority accounts from the Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy; and how that figure compares with expectations for 2024.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Audit Qualification was launched by the Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy. The department does not hold the requested information.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many councils had a completed audit on time for the financial year 2023-2024.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The deadline for councils in England to publish audited accounts for financial year 2023/24 has not yet passed.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to review legislation that allows landowners to use their farmland for (a) motocross and (b) other non-agricultural activities.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Under nationally set permitted development rights, land may be used for any purpose and moveable structures be set up on the land for up to 28 days per calendar year, of which up to 14 days can be used for motor car and motorcycle racing.
Where it is considered necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of legislation on the proximity of motocross events to residential areas.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Under nationally set permitted development rights, land may be used for any purpose and moveable structures be set up on the land for up to 28 days per calendar year, of which up to 14 days can be used for motor car and motorcycle racing.
Where it is considered necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to reform the eligibility criteria for the Flood Recovery Framework to include more (a)households and (b) businesses that have experienced flooding.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A review of the Flood Recovery Framework is currently under way with stakeholders.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how the criteria for the Community Ownership Fund was established; and for what reason local authorities are excluded from applying.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Criteria, eligibility requirements and changes to the Fund, have been informed by applicant feedback, stakeholder engagement, and lessons learnt. All information can be found in the updated prospectus on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average length of time was that (a) families and (b) individual people spent in temporary accommodation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Annual Statutory homelessness statistics (2021-22 and 2022-23) are publicly available at Homelessness statistics and include data on the length of time households spent in temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of his Department's budget was allocated to local councils in each year since 2015.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has published details of Local Government Finance Settlement allocations to local authorities since 2015-16.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many public parks and green spaces have been sold by local councils in each year since 2015 by (a) constituency and (b) region.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate of the increase to council parking charges in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The information you asked for is not centrally collated.