The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.291 of Budget 2016, when his Department plans to begin the consultation process on proposals to increase transparency in the land market.
Brandon Lewis
Government will be consulting on improving the visibility of information relating to options to purchase or lease land during the summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many stakeholders within the Collective Passport Service were consulted about the possible closure of the Collective Passport Office in Durham.
Mr Robert Goodwill
A review of the collective passport is ongoing and an announcement will be made once this has been completed. The collective passport remains available for those who require it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.121 of Budget 2016, HC 901, when his Department will commence working with local authorities to release land capacity for at least 160,000 homes; and when such houses will be built.
Brandon Lewis
A guidance document for local authorities was published shortly after Budget. It set out how the Government will support and empower local authorities to dispose of assets that could be made surplus. This includes a broad range of policy measures, including: the expansion of the One Public Estate programme, funding for Starter Homes, flexibility in the spending of capital receipts, support for new Garden Villages, Towns and Cities, and support from the Homes and Communities Agency. The document can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-assets-disposal-guidance.
“The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 6 of the March 2016 Locally-led Garden, Towns and Cities prospectus, when he will introduce legislative proposals to update the New Towns Act 1981.
Brandon Lewis
The government will introduce legislation to update the New Towns Act 1981 at the earliest legislative opportunity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what exemptions there will be from the Government’s proposed enforced sale of high-value council homes.
Brandon Lewis
Through regulations, government has the power to exclude categories of housing when calculating local authority’s payment in respect of their higher value vacant housing. During the passage of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, government committed to exclude housing that is in a National Park or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and confirmed that it would consider other suggestions that had been made during the passage of the legislation and by stakeholders for excluding other categories of housing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department plans to use in determining which council houses will be deemed to be higher value for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 relating to the sale of such houses.
Brandon Lewis
Under the Housing and Planning Act, local authorities have a duty to consider selling vacant higher value housing and must, if the Secretary of State has made a determination under the Act, make a payment to government in respect of their higher value vacant housing. The definition of ‘higher value housing’ will be set out in regulations made under section 69(8) to (10) of the Act, and will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate what proportion of the cost of introducing the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework will fall to (a) central government and (b) universities.
Joseph Johnson
We recently published the Green Paper “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” which sets out our proposals for delivering the Teaching Excellence Framework and reducing the regulatory burden on the sector. The consultation period closed on 15 January 2016.
Once we have considered the consultation responses, and are in a position to publish our final proposals, we will publish a Regulatory Impact Assessment which will set out the costs of implementation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to apply the pay to stay provisions of the House and Planning Act 2016 in all areas regardless of the levels of market and social rents.
Brandon Lewis
My officials are considering how the policy should apply to properties where market and social rents are close and the cost of operating the policy may be greater than the additional rent collected. We will be setting out the approach in detail in the pay to stay regulations and guidance will be provided to local authorities to support them through the implementation of the policy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to notify groups and organisations who may be affected by the potential closure of the Collective Passport Service.
James Brokenshire
The future use of the Collective Passport is under review in the light of changing demand for the product and the security of the document. We are engaging with staff and other stakeholders and expect to make an announcement shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which tenants will be exempt from the Government’s proposed phasing out of lifetime tenancies.
Brandon Lewis
The provisions restricting the use of lifetime tenancies are intended to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock – ensuring that social housing is focussed on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. This is essential with 1.24 million households on council waiting lists. The changes will apply to new tenants, but will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home.
If tenants are required to move home by their landlord, for example to allow demolition and regeneration work to take place, they will be granted a tenancy with no less security in their new home.
Where existing lifetime tenants seek to transfer, local authorities will retain a discretion – in limited circumstances – to offer the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home. We will set out the circumstances in which local authorities may exercise this discretion in regulations. We expect these will include where tenants downsize into a smaller home, move for work or to escape violence.