Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 introducing a new duty of care and statutory obligation for people employed in a local authority to cover incidents which result in death.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local authorities have broad independence to organise their approach in the most appropriate way to serve their local communities and it would be for them, as independent employers, to make decisions on introducing new duties of care. However, although local government is independent of central Government, where there is evidence that a council is at risk of failing its best value duty, the Secretary of State may use his powers under the Local Government Act 1999 to intervene. The independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce (2017-2020) was appointed in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy where it supported and challenged the council and provided assurance to Government.
The Secretary of State remains committed to supporting the Grenfell community and will continue to work closely with partners including those at the council to bring about lasting change for all those affected.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the quality of life of a community factors into consideration of called-in planning applications.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
When reaching a decision on called-in applications, Planning Ministers take into account all relevant planning matters, based on the detailed findings of the independent planning inspector following a public inquiry. Full details of the reasons for each decision are set out in the decision letter.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many staff in his Department have been tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulation that had been identified by previous audits.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
We do not centrally hold information on the number of staff tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulatory burdens that had been identified by previous deregulation audits.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to EU origin.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The information requested is not held centrally.
All available regulatory impact assessments should be publicly accessible on legislation.gov.uk, alongside the relevant piece of legislation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people were employed by his Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In line with precedent, the Department will not release data concerning five or fewer employees.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department spent on staff training related to diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Cabinet Office pays for and provides e-learning on inclusion for the Civil Service on the Learning Platform for Government.
During 22/23 DLUHC spent £18,073 on the 'Disability Confident Line Manager' programme. Objectives of this programme included legislation in relationship to disability at work and how to support an employee with a disability in the workplace.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish documents held by his Department on the estimated red tape costs of implementing EU legislation from 2011 to 2020.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government does not hold this information centrally and on a fully comparable basis.
The department is looking, however, at ensuring that the opportunities of EU exit are realised. For example, we have introduced the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and are supporting freeports across the UK.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to prohibit new buildings in open spaces managed by the Royal Parks that are not directly connected with those open spaces’ leisure purposes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is not Government policy to entirely prohibit new buildings in open spaces, however the National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that existing open space, which would include open space within the Royal Parks, should not be built on unless there is evidence to demonstrate that it is no longer required, or it will be replaced by equivalent or better provision at a suitable location.
The pandemic has shown how vital green spaces are for the wellbeing of our nation, from sharing our national parks together, to being able to invite loved ones over to our gardens.
That is why we have a very clear commitment to protect our environmental assets and ensure more green spaces are provided through our planning reforms.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) consultation about and (b) comparative assessment with alternative sites for the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre was undertaken by the Government between the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation's recommendation on 13 January 2016 on the location and the Prime Minister’s announcement on 27 January 2016 that the chosen location was Victoria Tower Gardens.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation conducted a very extensive comparison of possible sites before recommending Victoria Tower Gardens. The Government agreed with the Foundation that Victoria Tower Gardens is the most fitting site. Public consultations were held once designs for the proposed Memorial were available: initially on ten shortlisted designs, and then on the detailed proposals which were put forward for planning consent.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis was for the Government’s assessment that Victoria Tower Gardens was a cost-effective site for the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre; and what value was attributed to (a) Victoria Tower Gardens and (b) its existing uses in that calculation.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Details of the Government’s assessment of Victoria Tower Gardens were published with the planning application and remain available on Westminster City Council’s website.