Tag: Hilary Benn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage other nations to make a greater contribution to humanitarian aid for people affected by the situation in Syria.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion aid in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second biggest bilateral donor. The UK continues to play a leading role in encouraging the international community to make generous pledges in response to the humanitarian crisis. We lobbied hard to mobilise funding from other donors ahead of the third Kuwait Pledging Conference on 31 March 2015 which raised $3.8 billion. The UK is committed to working with the UN and other major donors to ensure that the momentum on fund-raising is maintained over the longer term, including to respond to the 2016 Appeals, once these have been issued.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11278, what recent conversations she has had with the parties to the conflict in Yemen about facilitating unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The Secretary of State hosted an international meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis in New York on 28 September at which she emphasised that all parties to the conflict should facilitate unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in Yemen. Members of the Governments of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other Coalition partners, amongst others, were in attendance. The Co-Chairs statement from the meeting can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/co-chairs-statement-ministerial-yemen-meeting-monday-28-september-2015.

The UK is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. We regularly raise commercial and humanitarian access with parties to the conflict.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-10-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of (a) the level of humanitarian need and (b) access for the provision of humanitarian support in Yemen.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The humanitarian situation in Yemen is now one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. According to the UN, 21 million Yemenis – more than 80% of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance. Of those, over 6 million people are facing severe food shortages, with households struggling to meet their daily needs. In particular, 1.8 million children require access to life-saving nutrition services. In Hodeidah city alone, UNICEF have warned that 96,000 severely malnourished children are at risk of dying.

The UK is one of the largest donors to the crisis in Yemen and has announced £75 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, focused on the most urgent life-saving needs. UK aid is providing vital medical supplies, water, food and emergency shelter, as well as supporting UN work to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response.

The conflict has resulted in restrictions on imports of commercial and humanitarian supplies to Yemen and intense fighting on the ground, which has severely constrained access and limited the operational capacity of humanitarian partners across the country. The UK continues to call on all parties to the conflict to facilitate unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in Yemen, and to lift any restrictions on commercial and humanitarian shipping, including of fuel for civilian use.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the average lettings agency fees charged to tenants in the private rented sector (a) at the start of a new tenancy and (b) when a tenancy is renewed.

Kris Hopkins

My Department has not made its own estimate of the average lettings agency fees charged to tenants in the private rented sector but has taken note of the figures reported by independent organisations, such as the Office of Fair Trading, Shelter and Which.

The Government is currently legislating through the Consumer Rights Bill to ensure there is full transparency on fees charged by all letting agencies, ending hidden fees.

By contrast, I would observe that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has commented that the policy proposals of HM Opposition on fees would harm tenants, as it would lead to: “increases in rents to cover the additional costs visited upon landlords” and a “reduction in supply” (RICS, Letting agent fees for tenants: a tale of two amendments, 15 May 2014).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the potential additional cost to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Appeals Service if a 25 per cent discount on the full price of their parking ticket is given to motorists who lose an appeal against that parking ticket at tribunal.

Brandon Lewis

As recommended by the Transport Select Committee (Local authority parking enforcement, HC 118, October 2013), the Government intends to work in partnership with a local authority to assess introducing a 25% discount to motorists who lose an appeal at tribunal level. This trial will allow us to evaluate the impacts, before rolling out the policy nationally.

The underlying policy rationale is the current lack of any discount at an appeal stage (but with a discount operating if the driver does not appeal) acts as a disincentive for drivers with genuine cases to appeal. I would remind the rt. hon. Member that parking fines are a quasi-judicial process, not a source of revenue for councils. This Government believes in fairness, in contrast to the Labour Government which actively told councils to adopt aggressive parking enforcement practices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on permitting motorists to park briefly on double yellow lines, single yellow lines or loading bays; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

In December, our consultation on parking asked for comments on the scope for introducing new grace periods for parking, including what areas it should apply to. In the recently published Government response to the consultation, we announced we will introduce a mandatory 10 minute free period (a) at the end of paid-for on-street parking, (b) at the end of free on-street parking, and (c) extend the same grace period to local authority off-street parking.

This measure will support local shops and stop shoppers being penalised for returning to their car a few minutes late. This Government recognises that if parking on local high streets and shopping parades is made too difficult, shoppers will merely drive to out of town superstores or just shop online. Our position is in stark contrast to the Labour Government which actively encouraged councils to hike parking charges, cut the number of car parking spaces and adopt aggressive parking enforcement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his letter of 24 October 2014 to the chief finance officers of English billing authorities, which local authorities have offered a business rate discount to premises with a free-to-use cash machine since the sending of that letter; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins

We do not hold this information centrally. Councils do not need the permission of Whitehall to levy such local discounts.

The Localism Act 2011 gave local authorities in England powers to grant business rates discounts. We have urged authorities to use their powers to provide relief to cash machines where there is a clear community benefit, such as where cash machine providers commit to introduce extra cash machines or reduce charges on existing machines. Central government now funds 50% of local discounts.

We also announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 business rates bills in England, bringing the total support from 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement measures to £1.4 billion in 2015-16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will answer Question 200690 tabled by the hon. Member for Leeds Central on 13 June 2014.

Kris Hopkins

Question 200690 was answered on 26 June 2014, Official Report¸ Column 270W.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance has been (a) requested from or (b) offered by his Department to South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils following the fire at their offices in Crowmarsh Gifford.

Penny Mordaunt

Following the fire at the council offices on 15 January local business continuity arrangements were immediately put into place. Telephone calls were made to Councillor John Cotton, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, and Councillor Ian Hudspeth, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, on the day to offer support and no central government assistance was requested. I would like to pay tribute to Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service, and to neighbouring fire and rescue services that supported them, for their response to this incident, and to council officials who have maintained essential council services. Officials from Fire, Resilience and Emergencies Directorate have been in contact with Oxfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer, Dave Etheridge.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library correspondence he has received from Essex County Council and Brentwood Council on changes to councillors’ eligibility for the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Kris Hopkins

Brentwood Borough Council did not send in a response to the consultation on “Taxpayer-funded pensions for councillors and other elected local office holders”. A copy of Essex County Council’s response is attached.

This differential interest no doubt reflects the fact that Brentwood Borough Council did not have any councillors in the Local Government Pension Scheme (a consequence of the decision of my hon. Friend, the Member for Great Yarmouth, when he was leader of the Council not to join the scheme), whereas Essex did. Non-participating councils tended not to respond to the consultation.

Prior to the consultation, only 16 per cent of councillors were actually members of the scheme and only 55 councils actually responded. The majority of Councils and Councillors submitted no objection to the Government’s proposal to end Councillor’s access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Such taxpayer-funded local government pensions have now been abolished, subject to practical transition measures introduced as a result of the consultation. These reforms will save taxpayers’ money, strengthen the independence of councillors, and reflects that the fact that councillors are not salaried employees of the council. Nothing prevents councillors from contributing to their own private personal pension, receiving tax relief like any other member of the public.

The suggestion by some that these changes would discourage people from running for election has not been borne out. In last year’s London borough elections, all candidates nominated in the knowledge that there would be no taxpayer-funded pensions if they were elected; yet more candidates ran for election in London in 2014 than in 2010 (source: London datastore).

I suspect that the council tax-paying public would be less than impressed at the Labour Party’s calls to reintroduce such taxpayer-funded pensions.