Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage recruitment in the environmental health profession.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department has convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group to help coordinate central government's expectation of regulatory services teams in local government, which includes Environmental Health, and propose short and long-term options to support the sector.
The Group consists of senior officials from government departments and representatives from local government and professional bodies. The Group is now focussed on developing a suite of recommendations, including measures that could support the attraction and recruitment of environmental health officers and increase the number of regulatory apprentices in local authorities.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of environmental health practitioners in local authorities in England in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department has convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group to understand the pressures facing regulatory services teams in local government, which includes Environmental Health, and propose short and long-term options to support the sector.
The Group consists of senior officials from government departments and representatives from local government and professional bodies. The Group has worked collaboratively with partners on several priority work areas, including understanding the size and composition of the environmental health workforce.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the amounts allocated under the Towns Fund by (a) region and (b) nation of the UK to date.
Answered by Luke Hall
So far over £2 billion has been announced over 86 Town Deals as part of the Government's flagship Towns Fund, delivering on our commitment to Levelling Up communities who have long felt left behind.
Final funding awards for these towns can be found on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/towns-fund
The Towns Fund is England only. The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund is a UK-wide fund.
Further Town Deals are set to be announced in due course. In addition, the initial bids of the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund and £220 million Community Renewal Fund are now being assessed, meaning even more funding is on the way to help communities build back better from the effects of the pandemic.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the amounts allocated under the Future High Streets Fund by (a) region and (b) nation of the UK to date.
Answered by Luke Hall
In total, 72 places across England will share over £830 million from the Future High Streets Fund. Final funding awards for all places can be found on www.gov.uk/government/collections/future-high-streets-fund .
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the amounts allocated to date under the Getting Building Fund by (a) region and (b) nation of the UK to date.
Answered by Luke Hall
In 2020 the £900 million Getting Building Fund was launched in England to deliver jobs, skills and infrastructure. This investment is being targeted in areas in England facing the biggest economic challenges as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. All £900 million have been allocated to support the delivery of shovel-ready infrastructure projects agreed with Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Details of the allocated amounts by MCAs and LEP can be found on the Government website (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/getting-building-fund ).