Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to establish independent pay review bodies to determine the remuneration of all local authority workers, to avoid possible conflicts of interest between worker and political representatives.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Local government pay is a devolved matter and that position remains unchanged. It is right that independent locally elected local government employers in conjunction with local government trade unions are free to negotiate and make decisions on pay within the limits of what they decide they can afford.
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of plans to remove the requirement for local councils to produce Strategic Housing Market Assessments, how they will ensure councils do not approve inappropriate planning requests in sensitive areas.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
In order to plan properly, local authorities need to properly understand how many homes they need to build in their area. “Planning for the right homes in the right places”, published on 14 September, sets out a proposed transparent and consistent method for assessing the need for homes in each area.
The consultation paper explains that when determining individual planning applications the decision-maker would still need to take account of the all policies in the National Planning Policy Framework, including those which restrict development (including policies relating to the Green Belt and Ancient Woodland).
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will include, within their leasehold review, a review of institutions such as the National Trust and other large property-owning organisations.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government’s consultation, Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why.
The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government response in shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what protections are in place to avoid conflicts of interest in the negotiating process between local authorities and trade unions in relation to the terms and conditions of public sector workers.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Employment matters for local authorities are devolved. It is for local authorities in negotiation with their recognised local government unions to make decisions on pay, terms and conditions for local government workforce in line with general good conduct principles. DCLG ministers do not have a role in these negotiations.