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 Department for Transport

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received assurances from Heathrow Airport that it will meet all of the Airports Commission recommendations before a decision is made on airport expansion; 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 – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    Officials from the Department for Education have liaised with the Department for Work and Pension as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

    The Department for Education follows that guidance, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-test-assessing-the-impact-of-policies-on-families.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the solar industry in the South East; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Government recognises the significant role that solar deployment under the Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) has played in engaging non-energy professionals in the electricity market, and the role that small-scale generation can play in the future energy mix. We therefore decided to keep the FITs scheme open in order to support the solar industry on a path to subsidy-free deployment.

    Some 91,000 solar installations directly supported by FITs have been undertaken in the South East, providing 425 MW of generating capacity.

    The new tariffs we’ve introduced will provide appropriate rates of return within a capped budget, encouraging further solar deployment whilst providing significantly better value for money to bill payers.

  • 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 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the routine use by his Department of the family test; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Officials in my Department have liaised with Department of Work and Pensions as the lead department for the Family Test on cross government activity to embed and encourage routine use of the Test. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant learning materials and best practice.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friendthe Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance.1 In order to augment this guidance, the Department is preparing specific guidance on how to apply the Family Test within DECC, which will form part of the Department’s refresh of our approach to collecting and using evidence on the impacts of policies.

    The Department is focused on understanding consumers when developing policies, and have implemented an internal project which has delivered a number of consumer-focused tools which will enhance our understanding of consumers. This includes a Consumer Panel and training for senior officials on open policy making where the Family Test will specifically be referenced. Analytical tools have also been developed to analyse the impacts of policies on energy bills for different types of households and also the implications for fuel poverty.

    [1] Available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to encourage the use of photovoltaic-generated electricity in Eastbourne constituency; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Government recognises the significant role that solar deployment under the Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) has played in engaging non-energy professionals in the electricity market, and the role that small-scale generation can play in the future energy mix. We therefore decided to keep the FITs scheme open in order to support the solar industry on a path to subsidy-free deployment.

    Over 1,250 solar installations directly supported by FITs have been undertaken in the Eastbourne constituency, providing 4.4 MW of generating capacity.

    The new tariffs we’ve introduced will provide appropriate rates of return within a capped budget, encouraging further solar deployment whilst providing significantly better value for money to bill payers.

  • 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 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the contribution of competition between airports to the future development of the aviation industry 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 – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Defra has a team leading on the Family Test who collaborate with the Department for Work and Pensions. The team work closely with staff across the Department to raise awareness, following the guidance on the family test issued by DWP.

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

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has formally accepted the recommendations made by the Airports Commission in its report published in July 2015 on night flights and the ruling out of a fourth runway at Heathrow Airport; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A number of important decisions on airport capacity were taken by the Government in December, including to accept the case for expansion in the South-East. However, we must take the time to get the decision right on a preferred scheme. The Government is further considering the environmental impacts and the best possible measures to mitigate the impacts of expansion. We anticipate this work will conclude by summer 2016.