Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 - Leader of HM Official Opposition
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 - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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 - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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.