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  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent representations he has made to (a) the Premier League, (b) the Football League and (c) the Football Association to encourage football clubs to offer affordable tickets to supporters.

    David Evennett

    Ticket prices are a matter for clubs, and we therefore welcome the recent announcement by those in the Premier League to cap the price of away tickets to £30 for the next three seasons. In my regular meetings with the football authorities, I will continue to ask that all clubs keep under review ticket prices, as well as ways to ensure greater engagement in clubs by supporters

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department has allocated to arts groups in Calder Valley in each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Calder Valley has received the following Arts Council funding over the last three years – £378,238 in 2013/14; £355,900 in 2014/15; and £300,298 in 2015/16 (year to date 8 March).

    This investment from Arts Council England has supported a number of projects, including the Lamplighter Festival, Mytholmroyd Arts Festival and the Routes into Theatre project.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department is providing for the development of a cyber innovation centre in Cheltenham.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Following the Chancellor’s announcement last November, my department has been working with GCHQ and the Office for Cyber Security and Information Assurance to take forward development of the innovation centres. We will ensure that you are kept regularly apprised of progress.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of the English National Concessionary Transport Scheme (ENCTS); and whether the central government grant to local authorities covers the cost of reimbursement of the ENCTS.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    In 2010-11, £223 million was paid to local authorities as a specific grant to deliver the National Concessionary Transport Scheme. In 2011-12, this funding was incorporated within the Local Government Finance Settlement, from where it has been delivered since. As the settlement distributes un-ringfenced funding to cover a number of services delivered by local authorities, it is not possible to identify the exact level of funding within the settlement specifically for national concessionary transport from the point the funding arrangement was changed.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the change was in the level of government reimbursement to local authorities for the cost of the English National Concessionary Transport Scheme between 2010 and 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    This data is not held by the Department for Transport.

    In 2010-11, £223m was paid to local authorities as a specific grant to deliver the National Concessionary Transport Scheme. In 2011-12, this funding was transferred to the Local Government Finance Settlement, from where it has been delivered since. As the settlement distributes un-ringfenced funding to cover a number of services delivered by local authorities, it is not possible to identify the level of funding within the settlement specifically for national concessionary transport from the point the funding was transferred.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to deliver hyper-speed broadband coverage in urban areas.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As announced at the 2016 Budget, the Government intends to support the development of the ultrafast market by establishing, in partnership with the private sector, a new broadband investment fund to support the growth of alternative network developers by providing greater access to finance. Ofcom also recently announced its strategy to promote large-scale roll-out of new ultrafast broadband networks as part of its Digital Communications Review. The Government is committed to ensuring that ultrafast broadband should be available to nearly all UK premises, as soon as practicable. We are proposing to take action in a number of areas which will help support existing commercial investment plans and encourage the ultrafast market to develop further, including reforming the Electronic Communications Code, the statutory framework governing rights of access to private land; implementing the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive to help reduce the cost of rolling out high speed broadband; reviewing the effectiveness of the fixed planning changes introduced in England in 2013 to determine whether they should be made permanent; and encouraging and supporting innovative approaches in street works which can lower the cost and speed up deployment of faster broadband.

  • Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have (a) an adopted local plan in place, (b) a local plan found sound by the planning inspectorate but not yet adopted, (c) a plan that has been submitted but not yet assessed by the planning inspectorate and (d) a plan published but not yet submitted for inspection.

    Brandon Lewis

    As of 29 February 2016 (a) 237 authorities had an adopted local plan in place, (b) 1 authority had a local plan that had been found sound by the planning inspectorate but not yet adopted, (c) 29 authorities had plans that have been submitted but not yet assessed by the planning inspectorate and (d) 17 authorities had published a plan but not yet submitted it for inspection.

    We have committed to publishing league tables, setting out local authorities’ progress on providing a plan for the jobs and homes needed locally. Last month we set out our intention to publish this information from summer 2016, on a six monthly basis, further details of our proposals can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementation-of-planning-changes-technical-consultation.

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  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 26101, what the evidential basis is for the statement that even if all authorities increase by the maximum under the referendum principles, council tax will be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The basis for this statement is calculating what the maximum that the England average council tax bills would be if all local authorities chose to increase by the maximum under the 2016-17 referendum principles. Plus what the increases would be if the same referendum principles applied for the years up to 2019-20. The maximum that the average bill could be is adjusted to 2010-11 prices using the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of the Consumer Price Index.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28942, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to people who pay council tax of that tax in (a) England and (b) each region of England in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities and we have not made estimates of council tax in individual areas for future years.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to offer apprenticeships.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My Department is working closely across Government and with the Local Government Association to encourage local authorities to start planning now so they can take advantage of the opportunities both the apprenticeship levy and targets offer to meet skills shortages and increase apprenticeship numbers. The Department has already jointly hosted, with BIS and the Local Government Association, two successful round table events with local authorities to support them in meeting the challenge of significantly increasing the numbers of apprenticeships in the wider public sector.