Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total private finance initiative liabilities of his Department are for the next 20 years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department has the following liabilities over the next 20 years under the private finance initiative contracts to which it is counterparty:
These are the latest available figures and represent the forecast nominal cash payments due under the contracts over this period (2014-15 to 2033-34).
The Department also provides financial support to Local Authorities for a number of private finance initiative transport projects, though these are not the Department’s liabilities. Further information on these Local Authority sponsored projects can be found at the following web address. This currently provides information as at 31 March 2013 but will be updated shortly with data as at 31 March 2014:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects-2013-summary-data
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided to each local authority for highways in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I have placed a table in the Libraries of the House which sets out how much each local highway authority has been allocated for highways in the last ten years.
This table includes funding we have provided through a number of funding streams including Highways Maintenance Integrated Transport Block, Local Major Projects, Local Pinch Point Fund and Community Infrastructure Fund projects.
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. Neither revenue nor capital highways maintenance block funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.
The Department is also funding local highways maintenance projects in Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sheffield, Isle of Wight and the London Borough of Hounslow through the Private Finance Initiative.
Asked by: Mike Hancock (Independent - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been invested in road infrastructure in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire in each of the last four years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport is responsible for the strategic road network which is managed by the Highways Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. The remaining roads are the responsibility of local highway authorities under the Higways Act 1980.
Highways Agency spending on improving road infrastructure (including smaller schemes and technology improvements) on the strategic road over the last four financial years in Hampshire is as follows:
Financial Year
| Funding (£m)
| |
2010/11
| 49.415
| |
2011/12
| 65.526
| |
2012/13
| 51.296
| |
2013/14
| 71.830
| |
The strategic road network does not extend into Portsmouth South.
The Department for Transport also provides funding to local highway authorities through Integrated Transport and Highways Maintenance Block grants. This funding can be used to improve local roads that the authorities manage if they so wish. The following tables provide this information.
Highways Maintenance Block & Top-Up Funding
Year
| Portsmouth City Council (£m)
| Hampshire County Council (£m)
|
2010-11
| 1.316
| 21.392
|
March 2011 – Pothole Funding
| 0.259
| 6.016
|
2011-12
| 1.260
| 24.268
|
2012-13
| 1.099
| 23.230
|
2013-14
| 1.108
| 22.052
|
2013-14 Top-Up (as announced in December 2012 Autumn Statement)
| 0.201
| 3.990
|
2013-14 – Flood Repairs
| 0.147
| 11.509
|
The Department for Transport is also supporting the Portsmouth highways maintenance project and a street lighting project in Hampshire which are both being funded through the private finance initiative. The total Department for Transport funding being provided for the scheme over a twenty five period is as follows:
Scheme
| Total Cost (£m)
|
Portsmouth Highways Maintenance PFI Project
| 253.775
|
Hampshire Street Lighting PFI project
| 234.328
|
Integrated Transport Block & Top-Up Funding
Year
| Portsmouth City Council (£m)
| Hampshire County Council (£m)
|
2010-11
| 2.067
| 10.017
|
2011-12
| 1.484
| 6.547
|
2011-12 Top-Up Funding
| 0.247
| 1.091
|
2012-13
| 1.583
| 6.984
|
2013-14
| 1.583
| 6.984
|
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways.
Neither capital nor revenue highways maintenance funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services they provide.
In addition, the Department for Transport also provides capital funding for local major schemes, costing over £5 million. The Department for Transport has agreed to provide a funding contribution to two schemes being promoted by Portsmouth City Council.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 support local planning authorities in (a) improving the viability of brownfield sites and (b) restarting stalled developments.
Answered by Nick Boles
Kick-starting stalled developments
This Government has introduced a series of measures to support stalled house building. These include:
· The Get Britain Building investment fund, providing over £500 million of finance which has so far helped start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites (as of February 2014).
· The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promote economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships and the devolved administrations to fund local projects.
· The £474 million Local Infrastructure Fund investment fund is supporting the delivery of upfront infrastructure for locally-supported, large scale housing sites and commercial development; it also provides capacity funding and brokerage support to local authorities to help them progress major schemes through the planning process. Nearly 80,000 homes have been unlocked on fifteen different sites. A further thirteen schemes are currently being assessed for investment, which we believe have the potential to deliver nearly 40,000 homes.
· The Autumn Statement committed an additional £1 billion of Local Infrastructure Fund funding to unlock locally-led housing schemes capable of delivering up to a further 250,000 new homes, and a second round prospectus will be published in due course.
· The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 enables developers with any Section 106 agreement to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unviable Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.
· As the housing market has improved, we have ended the temporary measure (introduced by the last Administration) which allowed developers to roll forward their planning permissions; this ending of the measure will increase the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.
· We are also seeking to tackle the inappropriate use of planning conditions and speed up the process of gaining non-planning consents.
· The Budget announced a £525 million Builders' Finance Fund to assist small and medium sized developers to access finance to support the delivery of housing schemes of between 15 and 250 units, helping kick-start stalled sites and deliver around 15,000 units over four years.
Supporting development on brownfield land
Freeing up brownfield land for regeneration and development is a key priority for my department. Our actions include:
· We have amended planning regulations to make it easier to change the use of an existing building from commercial to residential use, retail to residential use and agricultural to residential use. Permitted development rights have been expanded, including for flats above shops and allowing for new temporary uses. The Budget announced our intention to further extend these flexibilities.
· The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning should encourage the effective use of land by re-using brownfield land provided that it is not of high environmental value, and that local councils can set locally appropriate targets for using brownfield land. We have also amended planning practice guidance to stress the importance of bringing brownfield land into use.
· We have abolished the last Government's Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes and instead we have focused on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use. We are investing £160 million specifically to bring empty homes back into use. The New Homes Bonus rewards long-term empty homes being brought back into use and we have given councils the flexibility to remove tax subsidies given to empty homes, and use the money to keep the overall rate of council tax down. The number of empty homes in England has fallen to its lowest rate ever according to the Empty Homes Agency.
· My Department has been supporting the Olympic legacy, driving renewal and regeneration in east London, replacing over 740 acres of polluted, low-grade industrial land and premises with new sports and community facilities, parks, homes, shops and transport infrastructure.
· We are working with the Mayor of London to unlock the construction of 11,000 new homes at Barking Riverside, and extend transport infrastructure.
· A new garden city will be delivered on brownfield land in Ebbsfleet, supported by an Urban Development Corporation and up to £200 million of public investment. The last Administration pledged in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan to regenerate Ebbsfleet but failed to deliver.
· The new Right to Contest builds on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new Right applies to sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations. It gives businesses and members of the public an opportunity to challenge government on the best use of its estate.
· We have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers' money and providing land for new homes. As at the end of December we had released surplus government owned land with capacity for 68,000 homes to be built. We have strengthened the role of the Homes and Communities Agency through a targeted programme of transfers from other Government Departments and agencies. In addition, to ensure land is released efficiently, the Homes and Communities Agency will be Government's land disposal agency. This builds on the Homes and Communities Agency's expertise and experience of complex land remediation and disposals as well as their close relationships with local planning authorities.
· Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes – creating opportunities for housing and economic development.
· Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy rules now provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, and extended exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into. We have recently published a consultation paper to lift Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.
· The Budget announced an Estate Regeneration fund which will provide £150 million to help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of housing estates.
I hope this outlines the decisive action that this Government is taking.