Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that opportunities to install energy efficiency measures through Government schemes are compatible with regulations regarding (a) listed buildings and (b) buildings situated in conservation areas.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is fully committed to encouraging homeowners to incorporate energy efficiency measures in their properties in order to tackle climate change. As part of this, we recognise the need to ensure that more historic buildings have the right energy efficiency measures to support our zero carbon objectives. In our recently published British Energy Security Strategy, we have committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures such as improved glazing, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. This review will be completed by the end of 2022 and ensure protection of local amenity and heritage, whilst making it easier to improve energy efficiency.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of homelessness in (a) Leicestershire and (b) Bosworth.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities publishes quarterly statistics on statutory homelessness. The most recent statistics, for the period June to September 2021, are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness. This includes data for local authorities in Leicestershire and in Bosworth, although the most recent data for Hinckley and Bosworth is not available due to insufficient data being submitted.
The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and fully enforcing the Homelessness Reduction Act, and we are spending £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes the £316 million Homelessness Prevention Grant for the 2022-23 Financial Year, paid to local authorities to help prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation.
Leicestershire local authorities have a total grant of £2,136,251 from the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022-23.
Hinckley and Bosworth will receive £231, 567 from the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022-23.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) other support to local high streets to assist with recovery from covid-19 restrictions in advance of the spring trading period.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful as the nation responds to the impacts of COVID-19. We have provided a comprehensive package of around £400 billion of direct support to the economy during this financial year and last, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK. This package includes business grants, the coronavirus loan schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, as well as deferral of income tax payments. In addition, on 21 December 2021 the Chancellor announced further support of over £700 million in grant support for businesses most impacted by the Omicron variant, as part of an overall package of £1 billion to support businesses across the UK.
We are taking further concrete steps towards reviving our high streets and town centres by committing billions of pounds to support economic growth and regeneration for high streets, through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, which will invest in infrastructure to improve everyday local life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets. There is also the £220 million UK-wide Community Renewal Fund, the £150 million Community Ownership Fund, and the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, which includes support for 101 Town Deals and 72 Future High Streets Fund projects.
Beyond substantial funding offers, Government is providing support to local leadership with the High Streets Task Force. Over five years this is providing hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and to connect local areas to relevant experts. On 20th March, we were pleased to announce the next 70 local authorities due to receive bespoke expert support, which has taken place over 2021 and will continue into 2022. We will be announcing a further tranche of local authorities to receive in-person expert support from the Task Force in due course.
In addition to this, the Build Back Better High Streets strategy published in July 2021 forms a key part of Government's plan to level up and will deliver visible changes to local areas and communities across England. To address adaptation and reinvention of our high streets, in September 2020 we also introduced reforms to the use classes to enable more flexible use of existing buildings. Through these reforms we will help create more vibrant, mixed use town centre areas, attracting people to shop, work, live and for leisure activities, ensuring they remain viable now and in the future.
Reviving our high streets and town centres is essential to this Government's commitments to level up the country. We will shortly be publishing the Levelling Up White Paper, which will set out in more detail how this Government will be helping places around the country.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What assessment he has made of the role of neighbourhood plans in future national planning policy.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Communities are at the heart of the planning system and, by preparing a neighbourhood plan, they can have a greater say over development in their local areas. We are committed to retaining neighbourhood planning as an important part of the planning system, and we will set out our proposed way forward shortly.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local planning authorities in promoting energy from renewable and low carbon sources in (a) Leicestershire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government recognises that local authorities play an essential role in driving local climate action. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewable and low carbon sources, and that local plans should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change in line with the objectives and provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the call for evidence on whether local authorities and parish councils may meet remotely on a permanent basis.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Department is reviewing the responses to the consultation and will respond in due course. Any permanent change would require legislation, and would depend upon Parliamentary time being available.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his timeline is for decision-making under the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
Applications for the first round of the Levelling Up Fund closed at midday on 18 June. It is expected that investment decisions will be made by the UK Government for this funding round by autumn 2021.
The approach set out in the Prospectus available on GOV.UK will be kept under review for future rounds. Announcements about the future of the Fund will be made later this year.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure that professional standards of (a) competence and (b) quality management are enforced in the sectors of (i) fire door installation, (ii) fire door manufacturing and (iii) fire-stopping in high rise buildings needing repairs.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Building Safety Bill will strengthen the regulatory framework for construction products, including fire doors, by creating powers to require construction products to be safe before they can be placed on the United Kingdom market, and creating a statutory list of 'safety critical' construction products. For products deemed to be 'safety critical', manufacturers will be required to declare the performance of these products to a specific standard and to put in place factory control processes to make sure they are consistently met. The Government is also establishing a national regulator in the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to lead and co-ordinate enforcement, confront poor practice, remove unsafe products from the market, and deal with safety concerns early through improved market surveillance.
The industry-led Competence Steering Group has produced frameworks and recommendations to improve the competence of professionals working in safety-critical roles across the sector, including installers. The Government is supporting the Group's ongoing work by sponsoring the British Standards Institution to develop a suite of national competence standards, and intends through the Building Safety Bill to introduce regulations to ensure that those involved in design and construction are competent to do so.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to engage with representatives of regional shopping centre providers to ensure that the needs of those centres are considered as part of the economic recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Government meets regularly with representatives of both landlord and tenant sector bodies including those with interests in regional shopping centres. These meetings have informed Government policy towards the commercial property sector throughout the pandemic and continue to do so.
The Government is committed to supporting the retail sector and we are working closely with industry through these unprecedented times. To support businesses through the next stage of the pandemic, the Government is extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of September 2021, will continue to provide eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England with 100% business rates relief until 30 June 2021, and will provide additional one-off ‘Restart Grants’ for businesses in England in the non-essential retail and hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors.
The Government has also announced a call for evidence from the wider commercial property industry, including lenders, investors and industry professionals, to help monitor the overall progress of negotiations on rent and other matters between landlords and tenants and to ensure that the voices of the harder to reach businesses in the sector are heard.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much Rural Services Delivery Grant funding he has allocated to Leicestershire in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020; and what plans he has to increase that funding allocation.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The allocations of Rural Services Delivery Grant to local authorities in Leicestershire in the years 2018-19 to 2020-21 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-2021-to-2022 . I am pleased to say that under our proposals as part of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2021-22, the national total for Rural Services Delivery Grant will be increased from £81 million to £85 million.