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  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what grants the Church Commissioners have given to churches in (a) Devon and (b) Cornwall from the Roof Repair Fund in each of the last five years.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund grants are distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, on behalf of the Government. There has been one round of grants to date, announced in March 2015,

    (a) 22 churches in Devon were offered grants totalling £1,199,700

    (b) 7 churches in Cornwall were offered grants totalling £492,700.

    A second round to distribute a further £25 million allocated by the Treasury is currently open, with applications closing on Friday, 26 February.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to update planning guidance on using money from Section 106 agreements to fund flood prevention projects.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government is investing in flood protection at record levels, with an unprecedented 6-year commitment of £2.3 billion in more than 1,500 projects to better protect an additional 300,000 homes by 2021.

    National planning policy is designed to protect people and property from flooding. Local planning authorities are expected to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding by directing development away from areas at highest risk. In addition government guidance is clear that policies for seeking section 106 planning obligations should be set out in Local Plans or neighbourhood plans to enable fair and open testing of the policies at examination.

    Mitigation measures to make development acceptable in flood risk areas can be made a requirement of any planning consent. All local planning authorities are expected to follow the strict tests set out in national planning policy and guidance. Where these tests are not met, national policy is very clear that new development should not be allowed.

    The Government’s preferred approach for enabling developer contributions to infrastructure is the Community Infrastructure Levy, which is faster and more transparent than individually negotiated section 106 agreements. The Levy can fund infrastructure requirements where they are most needed across an area. Legislation and Government guidance specifies that flood defences form part of the infrastructure that can be funded in this way. More than 100 authorities currently charge the Levy and well over 100 more have made substantive progress towards doing so.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the licensing enforcement powers available to local authorities to ensure that pubs do not act as clubs without permission.

    Karen Bradley

    Licensing authorities and the police already have a range of enforcement powers under the Licensing Act 2003. These are sufficient to prevent pubs operating without relevant permissions. These include powers which licensing authorities have to impose conditions on a premises licence or revoke a premises licence where appropriate. They are responsible for making decisions based on what is appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives. These are the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; and the protection of children from harm.

    Licensable activities include not only the sale of alcohol but also regulated entertainment such as a performance of live music and any playing of recorded music among other entertainments. While the rules on regulated entertainment on licensed premises were recently relaxed so that permission is only required for such events when they occur outside the hours of 08.00 and 23.00 or when there are more than 500 people in attendance, an applicant for a premises licence should set out in an operating schedule the licensable activities they intend to hold on the premises.

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many family-friendly tenancies have been taken up in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government does not hold this data.

    We are progressing longer tenancies by promoting a model tenancy with bodies representing landlords, tenants, letting agents, mortgage lenders, and local authorities. Recent figures in the English Housing Survey, Households 2013-14 show that tenancy lengths in the private rented sector have increased to an average of 3.5 years.

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy privately-owned land for residential development were made in each year since 2009.

    Brandon Lewis

    The information requested is not collected by the Department.

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy publicly owned land for residential development were made in each year since 2009.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information on the number of applications to buy publicly owned land, nor is there a single place where developers ‘apply’ to purchase land.

    As part of the Public Sector Land programme up to March 2015, 942 sites owned by central Government and its agencies were sold with capacity for 109,000 homes.

    The Government property finder tool on GOV.UK lists government property for sale and rent as well as information on the Government estate.

    The Government is committed to releasing more of its land for housing, with an ambition to release surplus land for at least 160,000 homes by 2020. We have also introduced the Right to Contest which allows the public to identify sites which are surplus and could be put to better economic use, including housing.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been built in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    Statistics on new build housing starts and completions in Barnsley and South Yorkshire (Metropolitan County) are published on the Department’s website at:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

    These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate advertising by payday loan companies; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lending, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the FCA on 1 April 2014. The Government is concerned about consumer detriment in the payday market and believes the FCA’s, more robust regulatory system is helping to improve protections for consumers. It is important that consumers are protected from unfair costs. The Government therefore legislated to require the FCA to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans – which came into force on the 2 January 2015.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the accessibility of mobile broadband services and wifi on public transport was (a) on the last date for which figures are available and (b) in 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Modes of public transport vary significantly with different factors influencing the availability of mobile broadband services which is generally outwith the control of the transport operator. It is not monitored and no data are available.

    Wi-Fi equipment has and continues to be installed by public transport operators to improve internet connectivity for passengers. Generally, the decision to install Wi-Fi is a commercial decision for the relevant operator and, where relevant, subsidising authority. With the exception of the Department for Transport-controlled rail franchised services, it has not been monitored and no data are available.

    On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. Currently around 30% of train carriages operating within the DfT controlled franchises and serving around 50% of rail passenger journeys have Wi-Fi available. Our intention is for 90% of passenger journeys to benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018. No figures are available for 2010.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what change there has been in the number of black and white television licences held in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    According to TV Licensing, between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015, the number of black and white licences in Northern Ireland decreased by 404 licences, from 1,140 to 736.