Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many single occupancy households there are in (a) England and (b) Wyre Forest constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on the number of households receiving the single person council tax discount is collected by the Department as part of the annual Council Taxbase snapshot. The 2023 snapshot can be found here. Data is only available for local authority areas not parliamentary constituencies.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to publish a response to the consultation launched under the previous government on changes to various permitted development rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will keep changes to permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her policy is on the single-person discounts on council tax for single (a) pension and (b) working households; and what the forecast discount is for the next five financial years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For both pension-age and working-age households, where there is only one liable adult resident in a property, the council tax bill is reduced by 25%. The Government will carefully consider the impact on councils and taxpayers, before making any future decisions on council tax. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the limit for claims under the Disabled Facilities Grant from £30,000 to (a) £50,000 and (b) another amount.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely. Government funding for Disabled Facilities Grant has more than doubled, rising from £220 million in 2015-16 to £623 million for 2023-24.
Local areas already have discretion in how they manage the grant, for example, they can increase the cap on a case-by-case basis or in line with a locally published housing assistance policy. In 2022, Government published guidance for local authorities on the Disabled Facilities Grant, which includes information on using discretion in local delivery of the grant. The guidance can be found here.
As with all aspects of the Disabled Facilities Grant, the Government will continue to keep the upper limit under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his timeframe is for changing the annual index of park home pitch fees from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to improving protections for park home residents and this includes changing the pitch fee review inflationary index from the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). We will introduce the required legislation when the parliamentary timetable allows.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to help local councils with pooled funding tackle unpredicted revenue shortfalls due to the revaluation of the business rates levied on GP surgeries.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The business rates retention scheme in England is providing real incentives for councils to support enterprise and economic growth. In 2015/16, 362 authorities expect to retain an extra £544 million in business rates above baseline funding. Under the scheme, local authorities or pools of local authorities are protected against significant declines in business rates income, such as from rating appeals on GP surgeries, through a safety net that guarantees income at 92.5% of baseline funding.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to provide financial assistance to local authorities to deal with unforecastable shortfalls arising from the revaluation of business rates levied on GP surgeries.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The business rates retention scheme in England is providing real incentives for councils to support enterprise and economic growth. In 2015/16, 362 authorities expect to retain an extra £544 million in business rates above baseline funding. Under the scheme, local authorities or pools of local authorities are protected against significant declines in business rates income, such as from rating appeals on GP surgeries, through a safety net that guarantees income at 92.5% of baseline funding.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on local councils of the revaluation of business rates levied on GP surgeries.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Information on the business rates paid by GP surgeries is not held centrally. My Department continues to work with authorities affected by the business rates appeals on GP surgeries to understand the impact on local authority finances.
Under the business rates retention scheme, local authorities or pools of local authorities are protected against significant declines in business rates income through a safety net that guarantees income at 92.5% of baseline funding.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether previous audit and performance evaluation data is considered by the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register when approving a building inspector licence renewal.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register is required to carry out periodic audits of the general performance of approved inspectors including their compliance with relevant regulations and the Code of Conduct. When considering re-approval applications, this information, as well as the experience and qualifications of inspectors seeking re-approval, are considered.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what measures are in place to ensure that approved building inspectors abide by the (a) Code of Conduct for Approved Inspectors, (b) Disciplinary Procedures of the Construction Industry Councils Approved Inspectors Register and (c) Building Control Performance Standards.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Approved inspectors are required to abide by the Code of Conduct for Approved Inspectors and Disciplinary Procedures of the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register. The Code of Conduct also includes a requirement to abide by the Building Control Performance Standards and all approved inspectors are required to operate in accordance with both documents.
If it is found that an approved inspector is not complying with relevant regulations and the Code of Conduct, including the Building Control Performance Standards, the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register may withdraw or not renew their approval.