Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what standards his Department sets for authorised permanent sites and traveller sites for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community; and what level of inspection is carried out to ensure that local authorities' provision of sites meets those standards.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We encourage local planning authorities to make their own assessment of need for traveller sites and in producing their local plan, to identify sites to meet that need. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about the number and location of such sites locally, having had due regard to national policy and local circumstances.
Privately run Gypsy and Traveller sites with appropriate planning permission are subject to the local authority site licencing regime under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Local authorities have discretion to attach conditions to a licence and can issue a compliance notice for a breach of a condition.
Local authorities are responsible for repairs and maintenance of permanent Gypsy and Traveller sites they own, under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. Local authorities set out these responsibilities in individual Mobile Homes pitch agreements.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that local authorities are providing a sufficient quantity of traveller pitches to meet the needs of the Gypsy, Roman and Traveller community.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We encourage local planning authorities to make their own assessment of need for traveller sites and in producing their local plan, to identify sites to meet that need. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about the number and location of such sites locally, having had due regard to national policy and local circumstances.
Privately run Gypsy and Traveller sites with appropriate planning permission are subject to the local authority site licencing regime under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Local authorities have discretion to attach conditions to a licence and can issue a compliance notice for a breach of a condition.
Local authorities are responsible for repairs and maintenance of permanent Gypsy and Traveller sites they own, under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. Local authorities set out these responsibilities in individual Mobile Homes pitch agreements.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 level of unmet demand for authorised traveller sites across the UK.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We encourage local planning authorities to make their own assessment of need for traveller sites and in producing their local plan, to identify sites to meet that need. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about the number and location of such sites locally, having had due regard to national policy and local circumstances.
Privately run Gypsy and Traveller sites with appropriate planning permission are subject to the local authority site licencing regime under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Local authorities have discretion to attach conditions to a licence and can issue a compliance notice for a breach of a condition.
Local authorities are responsible for repairs and maintenance of permanent Gypsy and Traveller sites they own, under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. Local authorities set out these responsibilities in individual Mobile Homes pitch agreements.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many houses have been built in Darlington in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling completions for Darlington in each of the last 20 years, are shown in Live Table 253, at the following link.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building
These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply.
The Department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. This can be found at the following link
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting locally elected politicians greater powers to protect objects and monuments of local significance to their area that are in public ownership.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government believes it is important that local planning authorities are able to protect objects and monuments of local significance to their area. Our planning practice guidance encourages local planning authorities to create lists for local heritage assets which should have greater protection under the planning system. In September, building on this, the Secretary of State appointed an independent adviser to drive forward a campaign to mobilise communities across England to nominate heritage assets for inclusion in these local heritage lists. MHCLG is also providing £700,000 of funding to support this initiative.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to extend the Help to Buy scheme to mitigate for delays in construction because of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government recognises the disruption Covid-19 has caused to housebuilding; that is why we took decisive steps to re-open the housing market and ensure housebuilding could safely recommence.?The Government published a “Plan to Rebuild” on Monday 11 May, setting out the United Kingdom Government’s Covid-19 recovery strategy. This makes clear that construction work can be undertaken across England providing sites are able to operate safely in line with the new Covid-19 secure guidelines. We continue to monitor the situation.
As announced at Budget 2018, there is a new two year Help to Buy scheme commencing from 1 April 2021, specifically for first time buyers, so supporting people onto the housing ladder. Where new build properties are not completed within the current Help to Buy scheme deadlines, they may be eligible for sale through the new scheme. More information on the new Help to Buy scheme can be found at https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/equity-loan/eligibility/.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 enable the hospitality industry to utilise outside space to comply with social distancing.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Ahead of any decision to reopen hospitality, the Government will consider how to support pubs, restaurants and cafes to open up and serve customers safely. Any changes would be supported by updates to the Covid-19 Secure: Safer Public Places guidance as appropriate.