Tag: MiDavies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what measures his Department has in place for helping to ensure that areas without parish or town councils are (a) serving demand for allotments and (b) ensuring adequate protection for currently designated allotment land.

Brandon Lewis

Responsibility for the provision and management of allotments rests with local authorities. Section 23 of the Allotments and Smallholdings Act 1908 places a duty on councils (excluding London Boroughs) to provide allotments where they perceive there is a demand for them. This is a matter for each council bound by the duty to determine.

Local authorities are required under Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 to obtain consent from the Secretary of State to dispose of statutory allotments. Section 8 applications are considered against criteria set out by the Secretary of State. The department published guidance in January 2014 – Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and alternatives – which clarifies the legal and policy safeguards in place to ensure that disposal is properly and thoroughly handled. The guidance is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/allotment-disposal-guidance-safeguards-and-alternatives.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of protection within the National Planning Policy Framework for ancient woodland.

James Wharton

The existing protection for ancient woodland in the National Planning Policy Framework is strong. The Framework is clear that planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including ancient woodland, unless the need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of local authorities have a dedicated Armed Forces Champion.

Mark Lancaster

407 Local Authorities at district level and above have signed Armed Forces Covenant pledges although signing the Covenant is not a mandatory requirement for these bodies. These are voluntary commitments as is the nomination of a Covenant Champion. Ministry of Defence officials are in contact with Covenant Champions for 287 Local Authorities some of whom will act as representatives for other Local Authorities in their area. Among those Local Authorities who do not have a champion, there are those who do have a dedicated point of contact for Covenant issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 9722, what proportion of land is now covered by a local plan.

Brandon Lewis

239 of 338 local planning authorities (71%) have an adopted Local Plan and 287 (85%) have published a Local Plan. Approximately 67% of England’s land area is covered by adopted Local Plans and 87% covered by published plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2015-09-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce avoidable mortality in hospitals.

Jane Ellison

This Government is strongly committed to improving patient safety, including encouraging greater transparency about the performance of hospitals against key indicators for safety.

We are leading an ambitious programme of work to help trusts understand and act on their own mortality rates: the focus of this work is to support improvement at local level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many enterprise zone bid applications have been received in each region.

James Wharton

I am delighted to confirm that we received 54 applications in the new Enterprise Zone bidding round by the closing date of Friday 18 September. The breakdown of applications is as follows;

In view of the number of applications received, it will be a very competitive process and only the strongest bids will be selected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new houses was built on brownfield land between May 2010 and May 2015.

Brandon Lewis

Statistics for 2013/14 were published in August 2015. These statistics showed that in 2013/14, 60 per cent of new residential addresses, including conversions to residential use, were created on previously developed land.

The figures in the 2013/14 publication are the first in the new series and so are not directly comparable to the previous Land Use Change Statistics which last published data covering the year 2011.

The Land Use Change Statistics provide the Department’s official source for estimating the proportion of new residential development on previously developed land (brownfield). They were historically collected from 1985 to 2011. The previous data collection was expensive to run. By switching to an innovative new methodology the Department has made significant savings whilst providing a statistical series more suitable for detailed statistical and spatial analysis than before.

Historical Land Use Change statistics are available on the Department’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/land-use-change-statistics#archived-publications

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many confirmed cases of bovine tuberculosis there were in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Statistics on the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle within Great Britain are published monthly on GOV.UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain.

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