Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to allow housing associations to increase their property portfolio by diversifying their streams of private capital funding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In recent years, we have seen increasing levels of total investment by housing associations in new supply across a range of tenures (£13.7 billion in 2019-20, up 13 per cent on the previous year). We are keen to see new players in this market, and for housing associations to explore new funding streams to support the supply of new affordable homes.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to remove potential conflicts of interest where a local authority owns land which is subject to a planning application and/or is directly or indirectly a residential developer.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There are already safeguards in place to ensure that decisions on local authorities’ own applications for planning permission are taken properly. Applications cannot be decided by a committee or officer responsible for the management of any land or buildings to which the application relates. They must be determined under the same legal principles as any other planning application and publicised in the same way. In reaching their decisions, authorities must take into account the views of statutory consultees and relevant objections by local residents.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to increase the importance of Neighbourhood Plans in the Planning Bill.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear about the important role that neighbourhood plans play in our plan-led system and neighbourhood plans continue to have real statutory weight in planning decisions. The Government is committed to retaining neighbourhood planning as an important part of the reformed planning system, and we will set out our decisions on the proposed way forward.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to allow the extension of existing residential properties for enabling family members to move in for social care purposes.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Under the householder permitted development rights (set out in The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (as amended) homeowners are already able to add extensions to their properties to create additional living space.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce his decision on the Telford Town Deal Board Investment Plan submission to his Department.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm the Department has received Telford’s Town Investment Plan. My officials are conducting the assessment process for the proposals, and I look forward to making an announcement in due course.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership in ensuring that Shropshire businesses receive business grant support.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Marches LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) is responsible for distributing £1.58 million of support to local businesses to help them in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, working in partnership with local authorities to make grants to SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) in the region. Of the £737,000 that has been allocated to Shropshire Council, £600,000 will be delivered to local SMEs in grants of up to £10,000 each. The Marches Growth Hub https://www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk/about-us/, managed by Marches LEP, continues to provided business support, advice and guidance to Shropshire businesses .
As of 21 June, the Marches LEP has also supported Shropshire Council to deliver over £75.6 million in grants to 6,390 businesses in Shropshire from the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. Government continues to work closely with all local authorities, with the support of local bodies such as Local Enterprise Partnerships, to help deliver the remaining grant funding quickly and efficiently.
In December 2019, following extensive consultation with local partners, Marches LEP published their Draft Local Industrial Strategy and evidence base, setting out how they will drive productivity and clean growth. The LEP is now working with local partners to help plan for economic recovery in the short term. All LEPs are subject to an annual performance review by MHCLG, which includes an assessment of their delivery performance.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is (a) subject to Freedom of Information requests or (b) protected under the GDPR.
Answered by Simon Clarke
All recorded information held by MHCLG as a public authority is eligible for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In some instances a FOI request may be refused if the information requested falls under one of Act’s exemptions, including that for personal data
Local authorities are responsible for the delivery of grants to businesses, and therefore details of individual grant awards would need to be directed to local authorities. Under guidance for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, local authorities are required to set out the scope of their discretionary grant scheme on their website, providing clear guidance on which types of business are being prioritised.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national living wage on the provision of adult care services by private companies to local authorities.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Spending Review took account of the costs of implementing the National Living Wage and set out a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions. An assessment was made which drew on projections and data on pay including information from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care. This found that out of an estimated 1.52 million adult social care jobs in England, up to 900,000 people, are expected to benefit from the introduction of the National Living Wage. Through the Spending Review Government outlined a package of support of up to £3.5 billion to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide support to local councils to ensure they protect deaf clubs for people seeking support and help in getting back to work.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government recognises the important role that councils play in supporting those who need additional help when seeking to get back into the workplace. However, as democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent from central Government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities.
This year’s Local Government Financial Settlement does provide a reasonable offer to local government, with a settlement which is essentially flat in cash terms, moving from £44.5 billion in 2015-16 to £44.3 billion in 2019-20. By 2020, when councils will be 100% funded by council tax, business rates and other local revenues, they will finally be fully accountable to their electorate for their financing, decisions and actions.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that councils do not discriminate against people for whom British Sign Language is their first language in the provision of council services.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The responsibility for providing appropriate support to enable meaningful communication with deaf people by local authorities lies with the local authorities themselves.
All local authorities have a legal responsibility under sections 20 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010 not to discriminate against disabled people in the provision of services and to make 'reasonable adjustments', which means for example providing information in an accessible format to allow deaf people to have equal access to their services.