The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2015 to Question 12217, on judicial co-operation with Saudi Arabia, when those discussions took place.
Dominic Raab
Discussions are ongoing. No work has yet been undertaken by the Ministry of Justice as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff in the Tax Credit Office were allocated to deal with representations from hon. Members relating to constituents’ concerns about tax credits on 1 October (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (e) 2015.
Damian Hinds
HMRC do not hold the requested data.
HMRC requires many of its staff, as part of their roles, to contribute to dealing with tax credits enquiries from Members.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the apprenticeships levy rate will be.
Nick Boles
My Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce further details of the apprenticeship levy at the Spending Review, including the scope and rate of the levy and how it will operate with respect to the Devolved Administrations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many sites are approved for fracking in England and Wales; what the location is of each such site; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
Licensing and consent of onshore oil and gas activities in England is now a matter for the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences are not specific to shale gas. They grant exclusive rights to extract hydrocarbons, including shale gas but also other hydrocarbons, within a particular onshore area. A separate consent from the OGA is required before any drilling or hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can take place, as well as planning permission, environmental permits and review of the well design by the Health and Safety Executive.
The OGA does not have any undetermined consent applications.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government made during recent discussions with the Chinese Prime Minister in agreeing a timetable for closing legal ivory markets at international and domestic levels.
Rory Stewart
China is a key partner for the Government to work with in combating the illegal trade in wildlife. In the UK-China Joint Statement on Building a Global Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century, issued on 22nd October on the occasion of the State Visit of President Xi Jinping, the UK and China recognised the importance and urgency of combating the illegal wildlife trade, and committed to take active measures to tackle this global challenge. We warmly welcome the recent announcement by China that it intends, in due course, to close its legal domestic market for ivory, and will continue to work with China to encourage this to happen as soon as feasible.
The Government is committed to maintaining the current global ban on any new international trade in ivory. In addition, the UK does not permit trade in raw ivory tusks of any age and we are pressing for this approach to be taken across the whole of the European Union.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of (1) crime against older people, and (2) fear of crime amongst older people; and what steps they are taking to address both the incidence and fear of crime against older people.
Lord Bates
The Home Office has made no specific assessment of the level of crime against older people, and fear of crime amongst older people. The attached tablesshow figures from the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year to March 2015 for (1) the percentage of adults in each age group who were victims of crime, and (2) the percentage of adults in each age group who had high levels of worry about crime.
Police reform is working and the Crime Survey shows that overall crime is down by more than a quarter since 2010. We continue to develop the role of our elected and accountable Police and Crime Commissioners to shape policing services to local needs and priorities, as they are now doing in commissioning victims’ services, setting policing priorities and driving reform.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.
Joseph Johnson
Non-consolidated performance related pay is paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those responsible for delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. These one-off payments are not pensionable. Since 2010-11 the Government has restricted awards for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving around £15 million overall.
An element of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills overall pay award for staff below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is allocated to non-consolidated, non-pensionable pay related to performance. There are two types of award: in-year awards and annual performance awards.
Performance awards for the SCS are part of the pay system across the whole Senior Civil Service, and are used to reward high performance sustained throughout the year.
Information in the table shows the cost of each of these type of awards in each of the last three years.
|
Year |
Non-SCS End year Annual Performance Awards |
Non-SCS In-Year Awards |
SCS Annual Performance Awards |
Total |
|
2013 |
£1,540,773 |
£332,080 |
£577,925 |
£2,450,778 |
|
2014 |
£990,360 |
£492,228 |
£576,000 |
£2,058,588 |
|
2015 |
£1,288,474* |
£605,608 |
£539,500 |
£2,433,582 |
* A few end year payments still to be made so this figure is the latest and may increase
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-02-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times (a) the Cabinet Committee on improving the country ability to deal with flooding and (b) the National Resilience Forum has met in the last 12 months; and when each body will next meet.
Mr Francis Maude
As was the case under previous administrations, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees is generally not disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-02-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has made to the EU Commission on the UK applying for and drawing down monies from the European Solidarity Fund following the recent flooding and storm damage; and what the deadline is for making any such bid.
Dan Rogerson
EU Solidarity Fund money is available to all Member States suffering from large-scale natural disasters, but is subject to a number of eligibility requirements, including on the level of direct damages. Comparing the damage today to the 2007 floods, and following contact with the Commission, the Government’s assessment was that we had not met these conditions. The Regulation governing the EUSF sets the deadline for applications as ten weeks after the first damage caused by the disaster.
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.