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Tag: Julian Sturdy

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that the proposed changes to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 concerning the burning of waste oil do not result in an increase in unrestricted dumping of such oil.

    Rory Stewart

    The changes referred to do not amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The changes made are to the ‘Environmental Guidance On Waste Incineration’, which now clarifies that small waste oil burners used to burn waste oil must meet the requirements of Chapter IV of the Industrial Emissions Directive or switch to non-waste fuels. This guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-guidance-the-waste-incineration-directive/environmental-permitting-guidance-waste-incineration.

    A consultation on the changes to the guidance was undertaken between 14 September and 26 October last year. A summary of responses can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487892/waste-incineration-consult-sum-resp.pdf.

    The impact assessment for the changes to this guidance considered some sensitivities on the price of crude oil with regard to collection fees only. The impact assessment can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487895/waste-incineration-consult-ep-ia.pdf.

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  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been raised in fines for fly-tipping in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse of removing fly-tipped waste from public land was in that period.

    Rory Stewart

    It is not possible to identify from centrally held information the amount of revenue generated from the collection of fixed penalties (for example, court fines and fine-registered fixed penalty notices) relating to fly-tipping offences.

    The estimated clearance costs of removing fly-tipped waste from public land by local authorities in England for the last three years are set out in the table below.

    Year

    Clearance cost

    2012/13

    £36.4 million

    2013/14

    £45.2 million

    2014/15

    £49.5 million
  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all children complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2020.

    James Wharton

    The UK Government is committed to ensuring all children are able to complete a full cycle of quality education. Between 2011 and 2015 DFID supported over 11 million children into primary and lower secondary school (7.5 million children in countries considered fragile), and training 380,000 teachers through our multilateral partners. In 2015, the UK again committed to support a further 11 million children in the poorest countries to gain a decent education by 2020.

    DFID is also supporting up to one million of the world’s poorest girls through DFID’s Girls Education Challenge (GEC). In July, DFID co-hosted the first, hugely successful Girls’ Education Forum in London and announced a further £100 million through the GEC to continue this support and help an additional 175,000 of the poorest, most marginalised adolescent girls in the world to get a decent education.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on reform of the NHS funding formula to clinical commissioning groups.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has responsibility for determining allocations to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, an independent advisory group, is undertaking a full review of the formula used to determine allocations for individual CCGs. The review is nearing completion and we expect their recommendations to be presented at the NHS England Board meeting in December

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take further steps to support Anthony Nolan’s Destination Cure campaign.

    Jane Ellison

    Since 2011, the Department of Health has provided our delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan, a total of £16 million in additional, new funding to improve stem cell transplantation services in the United Kingdom. A further £3 million investment was announced in March 2015.

    The Government remains committed to improving stem cell transplantation services and doing all we can to help those in need of a transplant to find a suitable donor. The report ‘Destination Cure – arriving at a better future’ from Anthony Nolan provides a timely contribution to this work.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will prioritise Christian, Shia Muslim and Yazidi refugees, who have been targeted by ISIL, when considering asylum cases.

    James Brokenshire

    All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the UK’s obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to assist Christian refugees in Syria who are being persecuted.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Government have been clear in condemning the horrific attacks on religious communities by violent extremists including ISIL. All UK funded assistance is distributed on the basis of need to ensure civilians are not discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, or ethnicity. We prioritise reaching the most vulnerable people across Syria, including Christians and those who have suffered from such violence. DFID continues to work with the UN and the international community to ensure all minorities’ rights are protected and our aid reaches those in greatest need.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2014-01-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local planning authorities in (a) improving the viability of brownfield sites and (b) restarting stalled developments.

    Nick Boles

    Kick-starting stalled developments

    This Government has introduced a series of measures to support stalled house building. These include:

    · The Get Britain Building investment fund, providing over £500 million of finance which has so far helped start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites (as of February 2014).

    · The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promote economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships and the devolved administrations to fund local projects.

    · The £474 million Local Infrastructure Fund investment fund is supporting the delivery of upfront infrastructure for locally-supported, large scale housing sites and commercial development; it also provides capacity funding and brokerage support to local authorities to help them progress major schemes through the planning process. Nearly 80,000 homes have been unlocked on fifteen different sites. A further thirteen schemes are currently being assessed for investment, which we believe have the potential to deliver nearly 40,000 homes.

    · The Autumn Statement committed an additional £1 billion of Local Infrastructure Fund funding to unlock locally-led housing schemes capable of delivering up to a further 250,000 new homes, and a second round prospectus will be published in due course.

    · The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 enables developers with any Section 106 agreement to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unviable Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.

    · As the housing market has improved, we have ended the temporary measure (introduced by the last Administration) which allowed developers to roll forward their planning permissions; this ending of the measure will increase the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.

    · We are also seeking to tackle the inappropriate use of planning conditions and speed up the process of gaining non-planning consents.

    · The Budget announced a £525 million Builders’ Finance Fund to assist small and medium sized developers to access finance to support the delivery of housing schemes of between 15 and 250 units, helping kick-start stalled sites and deliver around 15,000 units over four years.

    Supporting development on brownfield land

    Freeing up brownfield land for regeneration and development is a key priority for my department. Our actions include:

    · We have amended planning regulations to make it easier to change the use of an existing building from commercial to residential use, retail to residential use and agricultural to residential use. Permitted development rights have been expanded, including for flats above shops and allowing for new temporary uses. The Budget announced our intention to further extend these flexibilities.

    · The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning should encourage the effective use of land by re-using brownfield land provided that it is not of high environmental value, and that local councils can set locally appropriate targets for using brownfield land. We have also amended planning practice guidance to stress the importance of bringing brownfield land into use.

    · We have abolished the last Government’s Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes and instead we have focused on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use. We are investing £160 million specifically to bring empty homes back into use. The New Homes Bonus rewards long-term empty homes being brought back into use and we have given councils the flexibility to remove tax subsidies given to empty homes, and use the money to keep the overall rate of council tax down. The number of empty homes in England has fallen to its lowest rate ever according to the Empty Homes Agency.

    · My Department has been supporting the Olympic legacy, driving renewal and regeneration in east London, replacing over 740 acres of polluted, low-grade industrial land and premises with new sports and community facilities, parks, homes, shops and transport infrastructure.

    · We are working with the Mayor of London to unlock the construction of 11,000 new homes at Barking Riverside, and extend transport infrastructure.

    · A new garden city will be delivered on brownfield land in Ebbsfleet, supported by an Urban Development Corporation and up to £200 million of public investment. The last Administration pledged in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan to regenerate Ebbsfleet but failed to deliver.

    · The new Right to Contest builds on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new Right applies to sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations. It gives businesses and members of the public an opportunity to challenge government on the best use of its estate.

    · We have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers’ money and providing land for new homes. As at the end of December we had released surplus government owned land with capacity for 68,000 homes to be built. We have strengthened the role of the Homes and Communities Agency through a targeted programme of transfers from other Government Departments and agencies. In addition, to ensure land is released efficiently, the Homes and Communities Agency will be Government’s land disposal agency. This builds on the Homes and Communities Agency’s expertise and experience of complex land remediation and disposals as well as their close relationships with local planning authorities.

    · Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes – creating opportunities for housing and economic development.

    · Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy rules now provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, and extended exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into. We have recently published a consultation paper to lift Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.

    · The Budget announced an Estate Regeneration fund which will provide £150 million to help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of housing estates.

    I hope this outlines the decisive action that this Government is taking.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of reserve servicemen who have been allocated the wrong tax code by HM Revenue and Customs as a result of their additional income accruing from military duties.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is only available at a disproportionate cost.

    HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has processes in place to ensure that reservist service personnel called up for military service receive the full benefit of their personal income tax allowances whilst they are on active duty.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of wind turbine developers using the Community Right to Build scheme to circumvent the local planning process.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Community Right to Build allows local communities to undertake small-scale, site-specific, community-led developments. It may only be used by community organisations in which local people in the relevant neighbourhood area have a majority of the voting rights and have the majority on the board of directors or governing body of the organisation, and, include different people from at least 10 different addresses within the area. This means the Community Right to Build cannot be used by property developers, including wind turbine developers, to gain planning permission for their development proposal – unless that development is something that the community wishes to see and which the community initiates.

    Proposals that require an Environmental Impact Assessment or are likely to have significant effects on a site protected under the Habitats Regulations are not eligible to use the Community Right to Build. Where proposals are eligible they will be tested by an independent examiner to see that they are appropriate in the light of national planning policy and generally conform with the strategic policies of the Local Plan for the area and any neighbourhood plans that are in force.

    The National Planning Policy Framework is very clear that local councils should design their policies to ensure the adverse impacts of renewable energy developments are addressed satisfactorily. To help implement the environmental balance expected by the Framework, we issued new planning practice guidance for renewable and low carbon energy last July. The guidance makes clear that the need for renewable energy does not automatically override environmental protections and the planning concerns of local communities.