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  • David Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department provides to support high streets in seaside and coastal towns and villages; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Since 2010 we have committed over £18.53 million of public funding to support high streets, including in coastal towns and villages.

    In 2014 we launched the "Great British High Street" awards which includes a coastal town category.

    Since 2012 the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund has also committed over £91 million to help coastal areas, including support for a range of projects that are contributing to the regeneration of high streets in a number of coastal towns including Blackpool, Chatham, Gravesend and Scarborough.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in local authority social care budgets on the prevalence of delayed discharges in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has not formally assessed the relationship between local authority social care budgets and the prevalence of delayed discharges in the National Health Service.

    Internal analysis has been unable to demonstrate a statistical relationship between local authority budgets and delayed transfer of care performance, although qualitative evidence from the sector does indicate the importance of strong and effective social care services in supporting delivery of NHS services.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will make representations to the EU on ensuring that local authorities are not unduly influenced to publish material supporting a vote to remain a member of the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    Under the terms of the draft Referendum Bill, local authorities will be subject to the same statutory restrictions on what they can publish in the final 28 days of the campaign as other public bodies. Both ministers and officials have discussed the UK referendum with the European Commission. The European Commission has informed us that they view the referendum as a matter for the British people, and do not intend to take part in the campaign.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was collected from local authorities at all tiers from non-domestic property tax levied on public conveniences in each of the last three years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My Department does not collect that data.

  • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be ring-fenced for that purpose.

    Richard Harrington

    The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.

    We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.

  • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be restricted to one year.

    Richard Harrington

    The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.

    We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Deposit Protection Service; and what plans he has to strengthen protections for tenants’ damage deposits.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department has a governance role in ensuring that all Tenancy Deposit Protection schemes perform to high standards.

    The Deposit Protection Service is required to submit monthly key performance indicators and provide annual updates of their management and financial plans to the Department, in accordance with the Service Concession Agreement we have with them.In addition, the Department holds quarterly monitoring meetings with the scheme operators at which any performance issues can be discussed. Since the schemes began in 2007, the Deposit Protection Service’s performance against the benchmarks set by our key performance indicators has been consistently high.

    Safeguards are already in place to ensure that tenants’ deposits are protected. All landlords and agents are required to protect a deposit and provide the tenant with certain prescribed information within 30 days of taking the deposit. At the end of the tenancy, the deposit should be returned to the tenant if they have honoured the terms of the tenancy agreement. If the landlord and tenant do not agree how the deposit should be apportioned, they can use the free Alternative Dispute Resolution service offered by the schemes.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the UK economy of blockchain technology.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government Office for Science is conducting a review of distributed ledger technology, which encompasses Blockchain technology, to highlight the potential benefits of distributed ledgers to the delivery of public services, and to help government identify and remove roadblocks to their safe and effective use.

    The review is being conducted by a panel of experts drawn from academia, business and government under the direction of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser. Their findings and recommendations will be published in a report this autumn.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2015 to Question 9926, what steps he is taking specifically to support fibre to the premises.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    We are proposing action in a number of areas to encourage the market to invest in better fixed communications infrastructure.

    We intend to reform the Electronic Communications Code – the statutory framework governing rights of access to private premises. We will be implementing the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive to help reduce the cost of rolling out high speed broadband. We will review the effectiveness of the fixed planning changes introduced in England in 2013 to determine whether they should be made permanent. We will also encourage and support innovative approaches in street works which can lower the cost and speed up deployment of faster broadband.

    We will continue to look for new ways to support fixed infrastructure deployment in consultation with industry.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the updated timescale is for certification of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 22 September 2015 to Questions 10383 and 10385.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=10383