Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review legislation regarding energy efficiency standards for doors to address the potential conflict between energy efficiency and fire safety.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are currently undertaking technical reviews of both Part B (Fire safety) and Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations and are in regular discussions with relevant industry bodies. We consult widely before making any changes to ensure that the standards we set are achievable.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been referred to him due to non-determination by a local authority in each year since 2015, by local authority.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Since 1 January 2015 up until 30 June 2020, there were 3,918 s78 planning appeals and householder appeals where the appellant appealed to The Planning Inspectorate before the local planning authority had made a decision on the relevant planning application (non-determination). This represents approximately 4 per cent of all s78 planning appeals and householder appeals received in the same time period.
The attached table provides the number of appeals against each Local Planning Authority and the year the appeal was submitted
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when local authorities sent letters to businesses informing them how to apply for the Small Business Grants Fund, listed by each local authority; how many businesses eligible for that fund are in each local authority area; how many businesses responded to those letters with payment details by 17 April 2020; and how many businesses each local authority had paid a grant to by 21 April 2020.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Government has made £12.3 billion available under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. The funding is being delivered by local authorities and Government is working closely with them to ensure grant payments are made to businesses as soon as possible, whilst safeguarding public funds. Local authorities are contacting businesses directly to deliver these grants. We have encouraged businesses who believe they are eligible for a grant to check the arrangements in their area on their local authority website if they have yet to be contacted, and to contact their local authority where relevant.
As of 20 April, over 480,000 business premises have received grants, totalling over £6 billion. Please see a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the (a) lowest and (b) average car parking price in council owned car parks in town centres was in 2018-19 in each local authority area.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department does not collect this information. However, as part of our work to implement the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 and support local authority provision of off-street parking, we are working closely with both local government and private parking stakeholders to gather data and information to inform policy-making in this area.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the total surplus earned through car parking charges was by each local authority in 2018-19; and what proportion of the total annual income that surplus was for each of those local authorities.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In November 2019, the Department published final outturn data of local authority revenue expenditure and financing for the financial year April 2018 to March 2019. This includes data of income from on-street and off-street parking, including sales, fees and charges. It can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/846282/RO2_2018-19_data_by_LA.xlsx
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding each local authority in England has (a) allocated to planning services and (b) raised in planning fees and charges in 2018-19.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
My Department collects data from local authorities on the total amount of expenditure for development control and building control combined. Expenditure for 2018-19 was reported as approximately £828 million, with funding raised by sales, fees and charges in 2018-19 as approximately £528 million. These figures are set out in the MHCLG local government revenue outturn table RO5 which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2018-to-2019-individual-local-authority-data-outturn
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many fee-paying car parks in each local authority in England are owned by (a) local authorities and (b) private companies.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department does not collect this information. However, as part of our work to implement the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 and support local authority provision of off-street parking, we are working closely with both local government and private parking stakeholders to gather data and information to inform policy-making in this area.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to provide electric charging points in local authority owned car parks.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Parking is the responsibility of local authorities and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area. However, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) offers a comprehensive package of support. This includes grants for supporting consumers to install charging infrastructure at home and funding for local authorities to support those households without off-street parking.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the coming into force of the provisions of the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.
Answered by Luke Hall
On 3 November 2019 we announced we were contracting with the British Standards Institution (BSI) to develop the Code of Practice as a British Standard. Work with BSI commenced in December 2019, and they are now convening a group of key stakeholders, representing consumers and the industry, to write the Code. We have committed to developing the Parking Code of Practice this year. A public consultation will take place within six months, to give the parking industry, the public and other interested parties the opportunity to have a say. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a new and independent regulatory body to oversee social housing tenancies.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Nothing is more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes. Residents’ voices need to be heard to ensure proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed. We want to ensure that there is a coherent and consistent approach to regulation to deliver these objectives, and achieve the best deal for tenants and landlords. Our review of social housing regulation is exploring the most appropriate way of doing so, and we will publish the results of that review in due course.