Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance the Government provides to local authorities on planning permission rules for roof terraces on buildings on flood plains.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
National planning policy and guidance on managing flood risk is clear that inappropriate development in areas at current or future risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains, towards areas at least risk. Only water compatible or essential infrastructure developments are allowed in the functional floodplain, where water has to flow or be stored during times of flood. Where development is necessary in a flood risk area, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere and be appropriately flood resistant and resilient.
Policy is clear that householder applications for minor development and changes of use require a site-specific flood risk assessment for all development in Flood Zones 2 and 3. Furthermore, the Environment Agency are a statutory consultee for minor development in Flood Zone 3 that is within 20 metres of a main river, and also provide advice for minor development in other areas.
We are reviewing our policy for building in areas at flood risk, and alongside the Government’s £5.2 billion investment in additional flood defences announced at Budget, this will seek to ensure that communities across the country know that future development will be safe from floods. We will assess whether current protections in the National Planning Policy Framework are enough and consider options for further reform .
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 estimate of the total amount of additional financial support provided through (a) each local authority tier, (b) the local fire and rescue service and (c) the police in (i) County Durham and (ii) Surrey.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The local government finance settlement for 2020-21 responded to the pressures councils are facing by providing access to the largest year-on-year increase in spending power since 2010. In addition to this, the Government has provided local authorities with an unprecedented package of support to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, allocating £4.8bn of support for?spending?pressures, including £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants and the £1.1 billion Infection Control Fund.
Details of funding allocations provided by the local government finance settlement for the last 10 years, as well as allocations of emergency support provided across the course of the pandemic and support for the police service, can be found on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 voluntary right to buy pilot scheme for housing association tenants in the West Midlands; and what plans he has to extend that scheme to (a) County Durham and (b) other parts of the country.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot will complete later this year, and is being fully evaluated. The Government committed to evaluate new pilot areas, and further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much is paid in business rates on stand-alone public lavatories by (a) each (i) county, (ii) district and (iii) parish and town council and (b) the local councils collectively in each Parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Data on business rates paid by type of property is not held centrally.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing grants to (a) pubs and restaurants with limited outside space that will not be able to re-open as soon as others as a result of covid-19 social distancing measures and (b) other businesses in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19.
This package of support includes the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) and Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF).
Businesses which are not eligible for the grant schemes should be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including:
Information on this support for businesses can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support
Officials are keeping in close contact with local authorities?to understand how the schemes are rolling out and advising ministers on any additional support?which could be offered to help businesses and support local economies.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 potential merits of filming (a) council and (b) sub-council network group meetings to promote transparency.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Whilst the Government attaches importance to local authority transparency which is promoted by the Local Government Transparency Code with core mandatory requirements, it has not assessed the potential merits of filming council meetings.
The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 4 April 2020, enable all local authority meetings before 7 May 2021 to be held remotely by such means as telephone conferencing, video conferencing, live webchat and live streaming, as a council considers appropriate.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 joint-venture approach to housing development and regeneration; and if he will visit the Genesis Project in North West Durham constituency.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government’s estate regeneration national strategy published in 2016 outlined the various ways in which the public and private sectors might work together to implement property development and regeneration projects.
It is important that each of the options, and any variations, are properly considered and tested for a given opportunity. Each route will have implications for financing, procurement and project management. In many cases, the challenge of how to structure delivery is likely to be addressed by a combination of different approaches.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to introduce a Bill to allow public lavatories to be excepted from business rates.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government recognises that public toilets are valuable community amenities. Primary legislation would be required to provide business rates relief for those public toilets owned by principal local authorities and parish councils, as currently such bodies cannot have their rates bills reduced through reliefs. The Non-Domestic Rating (Lavatories) Bill, which would have enabled this fell when Parliament was dissolved. The Government will consider reintroducing the measure in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received from (a) representatives of Durham County Council and (b) the hon. Member for North West Durham on including towns and villages in North West Durham constituency in consideration of funding allocations from the Future High Streets Fund.
Answered by Jake Berry
I can confirm that Durham County Council were eligible for four applications in Round 1 of the Future High Streets Fund. There is no record of written representations or correspondence from either Durham County Council or the hon. Member for North West Durham on funding allocations for North West Durham in the Future High Streets Fund.
We will open a further round of the Future High Streets Fund this year and welcome communities and local authorities to come forward with proposals to bring about change for our high streets.