Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 adequacy of existing legislation on short term holiday lets; and what powers are available to local councils to ensure prospective holiday rentals are subject to the planning system.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We announced on 19 February that, following last year’s consultation on the Introduction of a short term let use class and associated permitted development rights, we will give Councils the power to control the proliferation of short term lets. We will introduce a new use class for short term lets (C5 use) and associated permitted development rights. In addition, the Government will bring forward a new registration scheme for short term lets.
Further details of the planning changes, including the timeline for implementation, will be set out when the Government formally responds to the consultation.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with energy companies on improving (a) communication with (i) businesses and (ii) households about disruption as a result of energy projects and (b) access to compensation for losses related to such projects.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government engages regularly with energy companies and is committed to delivering the energy infrastructure needed for net zero and energy security, while ensuring that individuals are fairly compensated and brought into the process.
To install infrastructure, network operators often need access to private land and appropriate compensation, covering both the value of land and any losses, must be paid to the landowner. The Government recognises that where compensation cannot be agreed, then challenging this via the Upper Tribunal can be expensive for landowners. Government has established a Taskforce to explore Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, to help un-block these disputes.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on minimising the impact of of new energy projects on local (a) environments, (b) wildlife and (c) rural livelihoods.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of banking hubs in helping to ensure access to banking facilities in rural communities.
Answered by Bim Afolami
It is important that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services and the government monitors this situation closely.
Following recent discussions with the UK high street banks, UK Finance confirmed 225 Hubs will be announced by the end of 2024. Participating high street banks have also committed to improving Hubs by standardising the services available between firms, ensuring that customers do not require their own digital device to bank, trialling both a ‘customer liaison service’ and Saturday openings. The banks have agreed to keep services under review to ensure their effectiveness for all customers.
Banking Hubs are recommended by LINK and delivered by Cash Access UK, according to criteria set by industry. The Government does not intervene in these decisions. If a Hub is not available, rural communities can bank via the Post Office, which allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 branches across the UK. The Post Office is also required to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the financial cost to farmers of flooding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March, Defra published its forecasts of Farm Business Income, a measure of profit, for 2023/24. These forecasts reflect changes to price, crop area and yield in 2023, but not the impact of more recent weather events. The results of the 2023/24 Farm Business Survey will be published in autumn 2024.
The recent ‘Balance Sheet Analysis’ publication highlights that average liquidity in the sector has been consistently improving over the latest five years of data and reached a 10-year high in 2022/23. This indicates that farm businesses have been keeping back funds in recent profitable years to help sustain the business in less profitable periods.
It is too early to make definitive conclusions on the impact of more recent weather events on farm profitability. We have no reliable forecasts of yields, largely as spring planting is still underway. Additionally, for many farmers any financial impact that arises will not be felt until later in 2024/25. On this basis we continue to work closely with stakeholders to enhance our monitoring of the wet weather and its impact on farms.
In April, Defra opened the Farming Recovery Fund to offset the financial cost to some of the most impacted farm businesses by providing grants of up to £25,000 for uninsurable flood damage.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Operation Centurion on anti-social behaviour in Lancashire.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.
As part of the Plan, we funded an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we worked with 10 police force areas, including Lancashire Constabulary which received £1,050,000. Data received from pilot forces showed from July 2023 to the end of January 2024 over 100,000 additional hours of anti-social behaviour-focused patrols were delivered across pilot areas in England and Wales. This led to an increase in enforcement activity which included almost 800 arrests, around 2,000 stop and searches and nearly 1.000 uses of anti-social behaviour tools and powers.
Following the success of the pilots, we have extended this approach to every police force in England and Wales from April. Lancashire will receive £1,713,512 for the hotspot programme tackling areas of high incidents of both anti-social behaviour and serious violence.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to support the UK nuclear industry to increase exports.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK has extensive expertise across the nuclear life cycle, from new build, fuel to decommissioning and waste management.
The Department recognises the export potential offered by a growing global market and is working closely with other government departments, our overseas network, and industry to offer a full range of support for UK civil nuclear exports across markets including Japan, France, Central Europe and Ukraine.
This includes UK Export Finance, who can consider a range of options to support overseas sales, including loan guarantees for foreign buyers, working capital, insurance, and bond support products to assist UK suppliers.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of differences in the (a) licensing and (b) regulation of (i) short-term holiday lets and (ii) other providers of accommodation on (A) hotels, (B) bed and breakfasts and (C) other accommodation providers.
Answered by Julia Lopez
On 19 February 2024, the government announced a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets.
The scheme aims to preserve the benefits of short-term lets, as well as tackling the challenges they present in a proportionate way. The evidence collected through the call for evidence in 2022 and public consultation held in 2023 suggests that a form of registration rather than a licensing model is the optimum form of regulation in this sector in England.
Our aim is to make the scheme as light touch, low cost and simple as possible. The registration scheme is focussed on short-term lets, and therefore the register will not affect hotels, hostels or B&Bs. We will be examining the impact of the scheme on the sector through an impact assessment. Further details of the register will be set out in the government’s response to the consultation.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, published on 7 February 2024, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those plans on (a) the availability of NHS dentists and (b) waiting times for NHS treatment.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country, and to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Lancashire. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.
We will deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in need, including rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year. A Golden Hello incentive will encourage dentists into under-served areas. We will offer Golden Hellos of £20,000 to up to 240 dentists who join existing NHS practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help tackle antisocial behaviour by guests in short-term holiday lets.
Answered by Jacob Young
As outlined in the ASB Action Plan (2023), the Government is introducing measures to ensure that landlords have the tools they need to take action against persistently problematic tenants, relieve innocent parties living nearby and ensure that anti-social tenants face the consequences of their actions. This includes a commitment to preventing short-term lets importing anti-social behaviour into communities.