The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that public opinion is taken into account in its input to the BBC Charter review.
Mr Edward Vaizey
A public consultation which began on Thursday 16 July and closed on 8 October received in excess of 190,000 responses. We are now in the process of analysing these responses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15873, on broadband: Cheshire, if he will take steps to bring the planned coverage of Eddisbury in line with the Cheshire average.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Eddisbury is eligible for extra funding sources to increase local superfast broadband coverage, including clawback funding BT are offering in response to the high take-up of superfast broadband in Cheshire. It is for Connecting Cheshire to decide which areas to prioritise funding.
In addition, the Prime Minister recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department provided in Homelessness Prevention Grant to each local authority in London in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15 and (d) 2015-16.
Mr Marcus Jones
We have made available over £500 million to local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness. Since 2010, this has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless.
The attached table (London Borough Homelessness Prevention Grant allocation 2012-13) shows the allocations of Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2012- 13 for London Boroughs.
From 2013-14 support for preventing homelessness has been included in the annual Local Government Finance Settlement, split between Revenue Support Grant and estimated retained business rates. In the following years London Boroughs’ level of notional grant was as set out in the attached table (London Borough Homelessness Prevention Grant allocation 2013-16).
Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates are not ring-fenced. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library a copy of the terms of reference of the Council Tax Partnership Forum.
Mr Marcus Jones
I have arranged for the Terms of Reference of the Council Tax Partnership Forum to be placed in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff are currently working on the review of the localisation of council tax benefit; and whether he plans for further appointments to be made to this team.
Mr Marcus Jones
The details of the Chair and terms of reference for the independent review of local council tax support schemes will be published in due course. A Review team comprising four full-time equivalents staff has been set up to provide project and analytical support to the Chair.
The Review will be completed by the end of March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reason is for the time taken to publish the terms of reference of the review of the localisation of council tax benefit.
Mr Marcus Jones
The details of the Chair and terms of reference for the independent review of local council tax support schemes will be published in due course. A Review team comprising four full-time equivalents staff has been set up to provide project and analytical support to the Chair.
The Review will be completed by the end of March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the minutes of the meeting of the Council Tax Partnership Forum in June 2015.
Mr Marcus Jones
Forum members agreed to to cancel the June 2015 meeting, as there were no substantive agenda times. Therefore there are no minutes available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to appoint the Chair of the review of the localisation of council tax benefit; and by what process he plans for that Chair and other people working on that review work to be selected.
Mr Marcus Jones
The details of the Chair and terms of reference for the independent review of local council tax support schemes will be published in due course. A Review team comprising four full-time equivalents staff has been set up to provide project and analytical support to the Chair.
The Review will be completed by the end of March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, through what channels his Department plans to disburse the £3.2 million payment from the Fire and Rescue Authorities to private landlords for smoke and carbon dioxide alarms after the introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.
Brandon Lewis
To help landlords prepare for introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, my Department provided £3.2 million of non ring-fenced funding to local Fire and Rescue Authorities to purchase and distribute smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to landlords.
These regulations aim to protect tenants from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning in the home, and to further that aim we would expect Fire and Rescue Authorities to continue distributing any remaining alarms following the introduction of the regulations to help landlords comply, therefore safeguarding more tenants.
The Chief Fire Officers Association Home Safety Committee are planning to conduct further research and analysis on the distribution of the free alarms in the new year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on raising the upper trivial commutation limit for pensions above £30,000.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government currently has no plans to raise the upper trivial commutation limit for pensions above £30,000.
The Government believes this is the appropriate level which balances providing individuals with flexibility without placing a significant administrative burden on pension schemes.