Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost to the public purse was of the most recent business rates revaluation; whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost of carrying out a business rate revaluation annually; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is an executive agency of HMRC and is responsible for delivering the business rates revaluation. The VOA does not report on a separate cost specifically attributed to the revaluation. The Agency’s most recent annual report and accounts are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-office-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-2017
The Government aims to move to more frequent business rates revaluations. We are pressing ahead with this work and will announce our plans in due course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons pre-commencement conditions have been removed from planning applications relating to archaeological considerations on a site due for development; and what alternative protections will be put in place to protect such sites.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The planning conditions measure in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill will not restrict the ability of local planning authorities to propose conditions that are necessary to achieve sustainable development, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework.
Where a pre-commencement condition is required to address archaeological considerations and meets the tests for conditions set out in national policy, then the authority can impose such a condition, with the agreement of the applicant. In the unlikely event that an applicant refuses to agree to such a pre-commencement condition being imposed, the local planning authority can refuse planning permission.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to use the provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to protect sites of archaeological interest subject to development.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The planning system already contains strong protections for sites of archaeological interest. These protections will apply to measures introduced by the Housing and Planning Act.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what contingency arrangements his Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to him by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 January to PQ 21952.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people are employed in the Property Asset Management Unit; and how many such people are (a) civil servants and (b) secondees from outside bodies.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not employ any civil servants, or secondees from outside bodies within the Property Asset Management Unit.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 218656, what the reason was for the time taken to answer that question.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We could have replied more quickly to the hon. Member's question with a curt answer of stating that this information was not centrally held, but instead, we took time to try to craft a more constructive response, pointing to the national estimates that we do have and to the best practice guidance that we have published.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reason his Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 218656 did not provide the information requested in that Question; and if he will provide the information so requested.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We do not centrally hold the requested information by local authority by year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average cost per home was of rubbish bin collections in each local authority in each of the last three years.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
In our guidance on weekly rubbish collections published last year, we estimated the annual cost of a local refuse collection service per household to be between £6 and £7 per month. This is a tiny fraction of the average £122 per month council tax paid by a typical Band D household in England.
The best practice guidance outlines how councils can deliver savings to help reduce costs, without compromising on the frequency or level of service. It challenges the myth that fortnightly collections are necessary or desirable to reduce costs:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-weekly-rubbish-collections
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Justice speeding up the eviction process for illegal Traveller encampments by appointing specialist magistrates able to sit at short notice and out-of-hours.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are concerned at reports that some local authorities and police forces are not taking effective action to deal with unauthorised encampments. We will therefore be looking to hold discussions with Ministerial colleagues, including Justice Ministers, on what more we can do to help councils and the police deal effectively with unauthorised encampments.
We are open to any detailed representations that my hon. Friend, and other hon. Members, may wish to provide on these matters.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what new models of delivering children's services his Department is considering in the course of its Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods Programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Williams
The Government has invited local authorities to submit bids for the Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods Fund across the range of local government services. The deadline for expressions of interest was 15 December and we are now in the process of assessing these and selecting successful projects. Until that process is completed, we are unable to set out the specific models that we will be supporting.