Tag: Clive Betts

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 2 of Budget 2016, whether the £3.5 billion savings to public spending to be achieved by 2012-20 will affect the four year funding settlement to local councils announced by his Department in December 2015.

Mr Marcus Jones

While the Government has not yet completed its departmental efficiency review to help identify further savings in 2019-20, we expect the four year allocations confirmed in the final settlement on 10 February 2016 to be the amounts presented to Parliament each year, should councils choose to accept the offer.

We look forward to councils publishing efficiency plans by 14 October 2016 that demonstrate how the greater certainty on offer can bring about opportunities for further savings. However, if councils prefer not to have a four year settlement we cannot guarantee their future levels of funding.

We have been clear that funding allocations in 2019-20 may be subject to the implementation of 100% business rate retention, something councils have asked for over decades and which we are working with the sector to deliver.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of social rented homes that will be completed in (a) 2015-16 and (b) each of the succeeding four years.

Brandon Lewis

Through the Spending Review the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts, doubling our investment in affordable housing from 2018-19.

This includes £1.7 billion to deliver around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent. Already through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme we have allocated over £1 billion to deliver affordable housing, with the majority being for rented housing.

Since April 2010 we have delivered over 260,000 affordable homes. Under Labour the stock of affordable homes fell by 420,000, with 1.8 million families on social housing waiting lists. More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years of a Labour Government.

The funding allocated to housing associations and local authorities will depend on the bids submitted to the Affordable Homes programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he plans that the section 31 grant to compensate councils for the extension of small business rate relief will be funded.

Mr Marcus Jones

By raising £8 billion through a package of measures to counter tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises, Government has been able to announce in the Budget a £6.7 billion reduction in business rates. This is the biggest ever cut in business rates in England. The funding for these section 31 grants was provided for in Budget 2016 through the Budget scorecard (lines 15-17). This additional funding is included in the DCLG Local Government DEL budget figures on page 91 of the Budget Report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new social rented homes he plans will be funded by the resources identified for housing in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Brandon Lewis

Through the Spending Review the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts, doubling our investment from 2018-19.

This funding includes £1.7 billion for around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent, which will be delivered between 2015 and 2021.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans to take to ensure that local government pension scheme members are consulted on proposed guidance on the ability of local government to account for non-financial factors in pension scheme investment decisions; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that that proposed guidance will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government’s response to the consultation, which will set out our next steps in relation to these issues, will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new homes of each type of tenure he plans will be funded by measures announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Brandon Lewis

The Spending Review and Autumn Statement made last week reaffirmed this Government’s commitment to keeping the country building, to delivering the homes communities want and supporting hard-working people who aspire to own their own home to be able to do so.

Over £20 billion was secured for housing from the Spending Review. This includes £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable starts, and a further £12 billion of housing investment which will support our 1 million homes ambition by 2020/21.

The Spending Review package announced last week supports a variety of tenures, including affordable homes for rent, shared ownership schemes and starter homes. It also supports home ownership through supporting custom build, the extension of Help to Buy, and extending the Right to Buy to tenants of housing associations.

Precise splits between differing types of tenure will depend on the nature and quality of bids recieved for new funding programmes, and on the type of sites coming forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the responses to the non-financial factors section of the recent consultation on revoking and replacing the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government’s response to the consultation, which will set out our next steps in relation to these issues, will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which charities have used government grants to pay for campaigns in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16 to date; what the nature of each such campaign was; what estimate he has made of the amount of government funding used for each such campaign; and which such charities have been asked to repay part of their grant on the grounds that such expenditure was outwith the terms and conditions of that grant.

Matthew Hancock

The information requested is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of his Department’s progress on improving municipal statutory notices since his Department’s press release, Councils and media invited to bring statutory notices into 21st century, published on 23rd December 2014.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Statutory Notices Pilots project is now complete. We are currently in the process of giving careful consideration to the findings of the final reports of the 24 pilots, before drawing any conclusions and deciding what action, if any, to take.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have (a) closed and (b) opened in England since May 2010; and how many libraries which were previously run by professionally-qualified staff are now run by volunteers.

Mr Edward Vaizey

While the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not commission specific information relating to the closure or opening of public libraries, or of libraries run entirely by volunteers, the Department does monitor closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. Based on desk research undertaken by the Department, we estimate that from January 2010 to January 2016 approximately 110 static public libraries in England closed and at least 77 new public libraries have opened, including relocations to new buildings.