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Tag: Caroline Ansell

  • Caroline Ansell – 2023 Parliamentary Question on Empty Buildings in Town Centres

    Caroline Ansell – 2023 Parliamentary Question on Empty Buildings in Town Centres

    The parliamentary question asked by Caroline Ansell, the Conservative MP for Eastbourne, in the House of Commons on 9 January 2023.

    Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne) (Con)

    What steps he is taking to encourage developers to redevelop empty buildings in town centres.

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)

    Regenerating our town centres is essential to the Government’s commitment to level up the country. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill includes measures to tackle vacant properties, such as high street rental auctions, and it clarifies compulsory purchase powers. We have also revised the business development and use class rules so that commercial buildings can change easily between uses. Through the town deals programme and future high streets fund, the Government are also investing £3.6 billion to regenerate town centres, which of course includes projects to redevelop empty shops.

    Caroline Ansell

    With zero VAT on new build, demolition and greenfield development would seem to be the smart choice for developers, while empty buildings such as the former Debenhams in Eastbourne town centre, which would carry 20% VAT for renovation, are overlooked and year on year move towards dilapidation. Has any assessment been made of the number of new homes that could be delivered should different VAT regimes be levelled up? And, as there has been a great deal of negative campaigning—[Interruption.] I will come to that point next time.

    Mr Speaker

    One question.

    Dehenna Davison

    I thank my hon. Friend for her question; she is a fantastic champion for levelling up in her community. Questions on VAT would be a matter for His Majesty’s Treasury, but we are of course committed to reviewing incentives around brownfield development and will announce further details on the scope of that review in due course.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2015 to Question 10800, when the potential closures of courts will be announced; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    HM Courts & Tribunals Service is currently in the process of assessing all responses to the consultation and I expect to announce the outcome of the consultation in due course.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on his policies of the family test; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. As a result potential impacts of policy on family functioning and relationships have been identified and brought to the attention of Ministers where appropriate and as part of the normal process of agreeing policy.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what relative weight he plans to give to (a) deliverability and (b) affordability in assessing the option for increasing aviation capacity in the South East; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the uptake of Mandarin.

    Nick Gibb

    Between 2012 and 2015, entries for Chinese GCSE in England increased by 34%.

    We introduced the Mandarin Excellence Programme this year for highly motivated pupils. It has started in 14 schools with more to follow over the next two years.

    The programme will result in at least 5,000 young people heading towards a high level of fluency in Mandarin by 2020.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to hospital trusts on the account they should take of the availability of transport links when making decisions on reconfiguring services across two sites; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government is clear the reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local NHS.

    NHS England has issued guidance on Planning and Delivering Service Change for Patients. As part of this guidance, NHS England specifies that: ‘Based on evidence and national clinical reference groups’ advice, commissioners need to determine the appropriate range of providers and interplay of key access requirements such as travel time.’

    All commissioners proposing reconfiguration must include an analysis of travelling times and distances in their Pre-Consultation Business Case. As part of the Best Practice Check guidelines issued by NHS England, commissioners are asked: ‘Has the travel impact of proposed change been modelled for all key populations including analysis of available transport options, public transport schedules and availability/ affordability of car parking?’ and asked to provide evidence of this through a travel impact assessment.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to implement the family test; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Officials in my Department have liaised with DWP as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it and encourage routine use of the Test. Thiscould includetraining officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevantevidence, learning materials and best practice.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on the introduction of flexible rail season tickets; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    The introduction and roll-out of part-time season tickets will give people who commute part-time a better deal than they currently have access to. We have challenged the rail industry to develop proposals for pricing and delivering more flexible season tickets for those who work or commute part-time which could also attract new customers onto the railway.

    We are making progress on delivering more flexible tickets. For example, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have a franchise commitment to introduce carnet style tickets on their smartcards which is subject to the Secretary of State’s approval. We expect GTR to meet its obligations and are working with them to ensure they are delivered.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department is taking to implement the family test; and if he will make a statement.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and whenever appropriate the Law Officers’ Departments would follow that guidance.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to implement the family test; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Home Office follows that guidance. The guidance can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf

    The Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is addressed consistently.