Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposals in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on delivering the target in the Environment Act 2021 to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill would introduce a new Nature Restoration Fund that would unlock and accelerate development while delivering overall benefits for nature through investment in strategic improvements for protected habitats and species.
The fund will support the preparation of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDP), which will only be put in place where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the delivery of the conservation measures the EDP sets out are likely to outweigh the negative effects of development. In doing so EDPs will support the government’s target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide funding to tackle anti-Palestinian racism in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL6958 on 9 May 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to duties imposed on local authorities by the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill for which there is an enforcement authority, whether there are any other instances in statute in which persons are able to make applications for judicial review of the local authority, rather than the enforcement authority.
Answered by Baroness Penn
It is expected that the enforcement regime will act as the main deterrent to breaches of the ban. However, where the public body in question would be amenable to judicial review in relation to the decision, the Bill is clear that judicial review is still available to any persons, irrespective of the other enforcement provisions in the Bill. This is in line with the normal principle that the exercise of public functions should be subject to judicial review.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to clause 12(2) of the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, what decisions about the management of an asset of a pension fund are not covered by decisions about the acquisition, retention or disposal of an asset of a pension fund.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill only applies in relation to Local Government Pension Scheme funds when scheme managers are making an investment decision. Scheme managers are defined by statute and are predominately local authorities. A fund investment decision is defined in the Bill as a decision about the acquisition, management, retention, or disposal of an asset. Clause 1 does not apply to any decision that is not made by a scheme manager, nor any decision that falls outside of this definition.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions and consultations they held with political parties, district councils and civic society in Northern Ireland in advance of their decision to refuse to allocate levelling up monies to the region in their latest funding announcement on 21 November.
Answered by Baroness Penn
In the context of the growing pressure on Northern Irish budgets it is right that the United Kingdom Government should consider its approach to funding available for Northern Ireland in the round. £30 million has been reserved for Northern Ireland from Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. As part of our commitment to levelling up, we want to work with a restored Executive to find the best approach to supporting people in Northern Ireland, taking account of current budget pressures.
DLUHC wrote to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and the Northern Ireland Civil Service directly to let them know of our approach to Northern Ireland for Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. All Northern Ireland MPs were notified by a letter from Minister Young and DLUHC officials contacted relevant Northern Irish stakeholders on the day of the announcement.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the termination of the European Social Fund on 31 March, when funding will be made available from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to social economy projects throughout the UK.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The economic inactivity competition closed on 27 January 2023, and we received a strong and positive response from organisations across Northern Ireland seeking to deliver economic inactivity and Multiply support. Project assessment has now concluded and we are working with a view to taking final selection decisions as quickly as possible.
We recognise the need for this important funding to be in place promptly as the European Social Fund support draws to a close in Northern Ireland at the end of this month.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have allocated to the UK Prosperity Fund in each of the financial years from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund ramps up from £400 million in 2022/23, to £700 million in 2023/24 until it reaches £1.5 billion a year in 2024/25.
The UKSPF allocations published (attched) at : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/ukspf-allocations.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation programme for the UK Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Local government has been given responsibility for delivering the Fund, recognising that those closest to local people and businesses understand the needs and unique characteristics of their own areas better than central government.
In Northern Ireland, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will manage delivery at Northern Ireland scale, recognising the distinct and different role local authorities play there.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the UK Prosperity Fund will be allocated to (1) England, and (2) the devolved administrations.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
England will receive £1.5 billion, Scotland £212 million, Wales £585 million and Northern Ireland £127 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund across the years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the UK Prosperity Fund will be implemented.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Fund was launched on 13 April 2022 and will run until March 2025. We intend the first payments to places to take place in the Autumn.