Tag: Lord Greaves

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the introduction of a 50 mile per hour speed limit on single-carriageway rural roads, and whether they plan to consult on such a proposal.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There are no plans to decrease the speed limit to 50 mph on single carriageway rural roads.

The Department for Transport has provided guidance to traffic authorities in the Speed Limit Circular 01/2013 – Setting Local Speed Limits. This encourages traffic authorities to keep speed limits under review, and to consider lower speed limits than the default, especially where there may be a relatively high number of bends, junctions or accesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the ability to raise council tax by up to 2 per cent to fund social care applies to districts that are not social care authorities, and if so, on what services the resulting income can be spent.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The two percent council tax flexibility has been offered for authorities with adult social care responsibilities, for all years of the Spending Review, provided that they use the additional funding for adult social care. The flexibility does not apply to non-metropolitan district councils. Details of how the two percent flexibility will operate will be confirmed alongside the provisional local government finance settlement in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the expected yield of an increase of two per cent in the council tax levied by each local authority with adult social care responsibilities, and in each case how much that is per (1) head of population, and (2) number of households.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government announced on 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 2238-2241, that Local Authorities with social care responsibilities will be able to increase their council tax by up to 2% above the core referendum principles of 2% (4% in total) which is expected to raise an extra £2billion by 2019/20. A breakdown of the £2billion, by how much individual local authorities could raise, has been made and can be viewed at the following link or in the attached document.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the current funding levels of (1) the Environment Agency, (2) lead drainage authorities, and (3) district councils, on (a) small scale flood alleviation schemes, (b) preventive and regular maintenance of drainage systems, and (c) the ability of these bodies to respond to emergencies.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government confirmed in the Spending Review that the Environment Agency’s maintenance budget would be protected, in real terms, over the life of this Parliament.

Under the Land Drainage Act, internal drainage boards assess how much funding they need in order to carry out works and then charge this to rate and levy payers accordingly. Internal drainage boards receive funding from agricultural rate payers in their drainage district and from district and unitary authorities via a special levy which they place on those bodies.

The Government provides funding to lead local flood authorities to carry out their duties under the Flood and Water Management Act but local authorities decide what to spend on drainage and flood prevention according to local priorities. As part of a consultation on the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016-17, the Government has proposed protecting this funding in real terms over the life of this Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their technical or legal definition of a rogue landlord”.”

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The term "rogue landlord" is widely understood in the lettings industry to describe a landlord who knowingly flouts their obligations by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation to tenants, many of whom may be vulnerable. The Housing and Planning Bill contains a number of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords and force them to either improve or leave the sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is permissible for the ballot papers sent to postal voters to be a different colour to the ballot papers issued in a corresponding polling station.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Ballot papers for any given poll have a consistent appearance in order to reduce the risk of completed votes being identifiable as having been submitted by a particular voter or voters when they are verified and counted. That could happen if, for example, coloured ballot papers were used for postal voting (but not voting in person) and there was low use of them. Different coloured ballot papers are already used to help voters distinguish between different polls where polls are combined, and further use of different colours could lead to confusion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the difficulties associated with the insulation of external walls of traditional terraced housing and other older properties with solid walls rather than cavity walls, and whether they are supporting, or will support, research into practical solutions for insulating such walls.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government has a number of ongoing projects to investigate issues surrounding solid wall insulation, including monitoring current installation practices (DECC), modelling the risks of unintended moisture-related problems (DCLG and DECC), preparing practical guidance for industry to reduce the risks of such problems (DECC) and a wider high-level study of solid wall insulation issues (BIS – the Hansford report, to be published on 12 November).

The Government recognises that it is important that we do more and that is why we have commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to undertake an Independent Review into Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for both energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Review is due to report in March 2016 and represents a real opportunity to put energy efficiency on a more consumer-focussed and sustainable long-term path for the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the phasing out of Revenue Support Grant to local authorities includes, or otherwise affects, the New Homes Bonus.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government is considering the detailed impacts of the changes to local government funding announced as part of the recent Spending Review. A full consultation exercise on reforms to the New Homes Bonus, reflecting the changes that have been announced and including reforms to improve its impact in incentivising housing growth, will be issued later this month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 December (HL3988), what is the expected difference, in each county, between an increase of two per cent of the council tax levied by counties in two-tier areas, and the same increase in total if levied by both the counties and all the districts in each of those counties.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The flexibility is not being offered to districts, and so we have not calculated figures for a hypothetical difference. Councils, including non-metropolitan districts, can set any council tax increase they like. If the increase is above the threshold approved by the House of Commons, they must obtain the consent of their local electorate in a referendum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the role of district councils in two-tier areas in the maintenance of drainage systems, the prevention of local flooding, and action when flooding occurs.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

District councils have several responsibilities and powers in relation to flooding and land drainage. These include powers to carry out flood risk management works on ordinary watercourses, powers to make bye-laws to manage flood risk in the authority’s area from ordinary watercourses and to secure the efficient working of a drainage system in the authority’s district or area. Those in coastal areas are also Coastal Protection Authorities.

District councils are also responsible for a set of civil protection duties for emergencies. Plans are regularly reviewed and tested as part of local exercise arrangements.

Defra commissioned an independent evaluation into the arrangements for managing local flood risk under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The evaluation has now concluded and will be published in due course. One of the areas the evaluation explored was partnership working between the Lead Local Flood Authority and other risk management authorities, including district councils.