Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether parish and town councils are permitted to spend the neighbourhood portion of Community Infrastructure Levy receipts on the cost of the neighbourhood plan process, including consultation, plan-writing, examination and referendum.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts must be used for the purposes which are set out in section 216 of the Planning Act 2008 and Part 7 of the CIL regulations.
Local authorities must spend the levy on infrastructure needed to support the development of their area. Where charging authorities collect the levy, they can use up to 5% of funds from the levy to recover the costs of administering the levy.
Where all or part of a chargeable development is within the area of a parish council, the charging authority must pass a proportion of the CIL receipts from the development to the parish council. The ‘neighbourhood portion’ of CIL can be spent on infrastructure or anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area.
Further information on spending the levy is set out in CIL guidance (attached) and which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether houses in multiple occupation will be included in their target for building new homes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to building 1.5 million homes over the duration of the parliament. New residential dwellings, including Houses in Multiple Occupation (an HMO) that have not been converted from an existing home, will be included in the target for building new homes.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce the reforms to parish polls, as proposed in 2017 following public consultation, (1) to extend the hours during which the poll takes place, and (2) to ensure that (a) the request was supported by the majority of electors present at the relevant meeting, (b) that the subject matter of the poll was discussed at the relevant meeting and directly affects those who live and/or work in the community served by the parish, (c) that the parish council is capable of making a decision on the subject matter of the poll, and (d) that no further poll on the subject matter be held within 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government acknowledge that town and parish councils have a significant role in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities and creating places where people are proud to live.
The Government will provide an update on its plans to modernise parish polls in due course. The Department does not hold information about the overall cost of parish polls as these are local matters.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the overall costs of parish polls which were held in (1) 2018–19, (2) 2019–20, (3) 2020–21, (4) 2021–22, and (5) 2022–23.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government acknowledge that town and parish councils have a significant role in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities and creating places where people are proud to live.
The Government will provide an update on its plans to modernise parish polls in due course. The Department does not hold information about the overall cost of parish polls as these are local matters.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the commitment contained in the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, to "support a new scheme from April 2022 to support those seeking to become candidates and once they have been elected to public office", (1) what support was provided, (2) how that new scheme was promoted, and (3) what was the total number of candidates who received support, to become (a) a parish or town councillor, and (b) a county, district, London Borough, Metropolitan Borough or unitary councillor; and what was the total number of candidates who received support once they were elected as (i) a parish or town councillor, and (ii) a county, district, London Borough, Metropolitan Borough or unitary councillor.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In 2022/23, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) funded the Local Government Association (LGA) to run:
The LGA promoted the disability support work via media articles, social media, the LGA website, bulletins, newsletters, case studies, their own network of regional team networks, and disability charities.
35 disabled councillors received support – all were county, district, London Borough, Metropolitan Borough or unitary councillors. 13 people accessed the bespoke leadership development programme. 22 people accessed the coaching offer.
The campaign to attract more people to stand for election offered advice and support to encourage disabled members of the public to stand rather than working with specific candidates.
This work was one element of a wider sector support programme DLUHC funded the LGA to run: https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/sector-support-offer-2022-23. As the programme is aimed at principal authorities, NALC, who represent the interests of town and parish councils, were not directly involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of the disability support work.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the commitment contained in the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, to "support a new scheme from April 2022 to support those seeking to become candidates and once they have been elected to public office", what discussions they have had with the National Association of Local Councils on the (1) design, (2) delivery, and (3) evaluation, of the scheme.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In 2022/23, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) funded the Local Government Association (LGA) to run:
The LGA promoted the disability support work via media articles, social media, the LGA website, bulletins, newsletters, case studies, their own network of regional team networks, and disability charities.
35 disabled councillors received support – all were county, district, London Borough, Metropolitan Borough or unitary councillors. 13 people accessed the bespoke leadership development programme. 22 people accessed the coaching offer.
The campaign to attract more people to stand for election offered advice and support to encourage disabled members of the public to stand rather than working with specific candidates.
This work was one element of a wider sector support programme DLUHC funded the LGA to run: https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/sector-support-offer-2022-23. As the programme is aimed at principal authorities, NALC, who represent the interests of town and parish councils, were not directly involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of the disability support work.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the total cost of dependent carer’s allowance payments to councillors who serve on local authorities in England.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Publishing councillor allowances is a matter for local authorities.
Individual authorities are required to publish the total sum of all councillor allowances, which includes the dependents' carers' allowance, every year as set out in The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the threshold made under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 below which smaller authorities are exempt from routine external audit and are instead subject to the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has committed to review the threshold for audit requirements relating to smaller authorities as part of the Redmond Review and is considering these requirements within the context of its broader programme of work on local audit.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the consent regime for the installation of solar panels on Listed Buildings.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the Government's British Energy Security Strategy, published last year, we committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. An announcement on the outcome of the review will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 9 November (HL3455), when they now expect to respond to the proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 made by Weymouth Town Council in December 2019 for the dependent carer's allowance to be extended to parish and town councils.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Government is keen to ensure that local communities are well represented in local authorities, and that all levels of local government are supported to create thriving local democracies.
We are considering this matter and will respond to Weymouth Town Council's proposal in due course.