Jack Lopresti
Main Page: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke) Kris Hopkins
    
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Kris Hopkins 
        
    
        
    
        Quite often the media headlines on rent prices are the advertised rate. The figures I quoted are from the Office for National Statistics, and they are the actual figures tenants are charged after taking up a residency, so they are actually the true figures, rather than those advertised in the media.
 Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con) 
        
    
        
    
        2. What progress he has made on improving the planning protection afforded to valued and profitable pubs.
 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Stephen Williams)
    
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Stephen Williams) 
        
    
        
    
        We have made it clear through the national planning policy framework that local planning policies and decisions should guard against the unnecessary loss of valued community facilities, such as pubs.
 Jack Lopresti
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Jack Lopresti 
        
    
        
    
        I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that designating a local pub as a community asset is an important way of protecting it against being sold off?
 Stephen Williams
    
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Stephen Williams 
        
    
        
    
        Yes, I do. I strongly encourage all hon. Members across the House to engage with their local communities, and perhaps with the Campaign for Real Ale, to see what pubs need protection and to get that protection in place before there is a danger of them being sold off.