The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Iran.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Our assessment of human rights in Iran can be found in the FCO Human Rights Report, which was updated in July.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve air quality in order to assist people with lung diseases.
Rory Stewart
We are fully committed to complying with EU Air Quality Standards as soon as possible. We have already committed over £2 billion since 2011 in transport measures to improve air quality. On 12 September we launched a public consultation on our draft revised Air Quality plans for nitrogen dioxide, which set out a range of local, national and European actions to lower levels of harmful emissions. The consultation closes on 6 November 2015.
Government departments and agencies work together to prioritise action and offer the best advice to vulnerable groups to help mitigate the health effects of air pollution. Our daily air quality forecast includes accompanying health messages to the public based on advice provided by Public Health England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Summer Budget 2015 has an equal impact on men and women.
Damian Hinds
In line with both the Government’s commitment to fairness and its legal obligations, ministers carefully considered the policy implications for men and women when developing and deciding upon Summer Budget measures.
As with other public sector bodies, HM Treasury is required (under the Equality Act 2010) to pay due regard, in the course of fulfilling its functions, to the implications of its decisions for those with specified ‘protected characteristics’. ‘Sex’ is one of these protected characteristics.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to prevent price-fixing in service charges by providers of retirement homes.
Brandon Lewis
The law provides a framework of rights and protections for residential leaseholders where service charges and the management of their property are concerned.
These rights allow leaseholders to hold their freeholder and managing agent to account. They include the right to be consulted about proposed major works and long term agreements, to challenge the reasonableness of service charge demands at an independent tribunal, to seek the appointment of a new manager and, in some cases. to take over the management of the block of flats where they live.
Price-fixing is a serious matter and any evidence of this should be reported to the Competition and Markets Authority for consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has on funding for onshore wind energy development.
Andrea Leadsom
We are delivering our election commitment to end subsidies for new onshore wind. We are seeking to legislate through the Energy Bill to close the renewables obligation (RO) to new onshore wind capacity from 1 April 2016, one year earlier than planned. To protect wider investor confidence we are proposing to allow projects which meet certain criteria extra time to accredit under the scheme.
Fifteen onshore wind projects, with a combined installed capacity of around 750MW, signed a Contract for Difference (CfDs) earlier this year following the first CfD allocation round. These projects are expected to commission between 2016/17 and 2018/19. We will be setting out our plans for delivering a new generation of cost effective, secure, electricity supplies and confirming decisions in relation to allocations of further renewables contracts in due course.
Small-scale onshore wind projects up to 5 megawatts in scale are eligible for support under the feed-in tariff (FITs) scheme. DECC has proposed action, through the FITs review consultation, to control spending and put FITs onto an affordable and sustainable footing. Further information can be found online at:
https://econsultation.decc.gov.uk/office-for-renewable-energy-deployment-ored/fit-review-2015.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will review the regulation of service charges to ensure that housing associations are not exploiting residents.
Brandon Lewis
Service charges are subject to legal requirements that limit these to covering the cost of providing the services. The Social Housing Regulator requires that providers give clear information to tenants about how their service charges are set. If tenants feel their service charges are too high they may make a complaint through their landlord’s formal complaints procedure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a requirement that private landlords have a certificate confirming their accommodation has reached a minimum condition before it can be let.
Brandon Lewis
Local Authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to assess the risks and hazards in properties, and to require landlords or owners to remove hazards, and to prosecute if they fail to do so. If a property is found to contain serious hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action in relation to the hazard. This could include serving a notice for the landlord to carry out improvements.
The Government wants to crack down further on the small minority of rogue and criminal landlords who exploit their tenants by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation and are taking forward proposals through the Housing and Planning Bill. The legislation will enable local authorities to:
The majority of landlords in the private rented sector provide decent accommodation with surveys showing that 84% of tenants are satisfied with their accommodation, and staying in their homes for an average of 3.5 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve air quality in order to assist people with lung diseases.
Andrew Jones
Tackling poor air quality is a priority for this government. Our aim is for almost every car and van to be a zero emission vehicle by 2050.
The Department for Transport takes its environmental obligations seriously, and is committed to making journeys cleaner. £2 billion has been committed since 2011 to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, support green transport initiatives and support local authorities to take action. These measures will help address both particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide roadside levels in pollution hotspots.
We also work closely with the Department for Health, Public Health England, and their advisors the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants.
Government is revising its Air Quality plans and launched a consultation on 12 September 2015 to seek views from local and transport authorities, businesses and members of the public on action that can be taken to improve air quality. The Department for Transport have been working with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on these plans, which set out a range of local, national and European actions to lower levels of harmful emissions. The consultation closes on 6 November 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department gives to ensure that the implications of missing national insurance contributions are made clear to those concerned at the time they are missed.
Mr David Gauke
There is a range of guidance available to help a person understand the implications of not paying national insurance. A person’s record can be made up of national insurance contributions and credits from a variety of sources. When these are posted to the individual’s contributions record after the end of the tax year the individual may have insufficient contributions on their account for that year to qualify for certain benefits. These gaps in a person’s national insurance contributions record may be filled by the payment of voluntary Class 3 contributions.
HM Revenue and Customs has published guidance on GOV.UK that explains when the payment of voluntary Class 3 contributions may be beneficial, eligibility, rates and how and when to pay. This is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses have been received to his Department’s consultation on business rate relief for local newspapers; and if he will extend that relief to local magazine publishers.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation with the Department forCommunities and Local Government.