Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many domestic violence refuge places there were in (a) West Sussex and (b) Mid Sussex on 1 January (i) 2010 and (ii) 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Data on the number of domestic violence refuge places is not held centrally. It is for local areas to assess their needs for domestic abuse services and to make decisions on the provision of safe accommodation, including refuges and support for victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield sites in the West Sussex County Council area have been re-designated as community land trusts in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by Community Land Trusts.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) labour and (b) materials data used to calculate the area cost adjustment factor element of the Sussex Police grant.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Area Cost Adjustment data referred to in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2015/16 is that used for the 2013-14 Local Government Finance Settlement.
The main data used for the labour cost element are anonymised personal records from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Any release is governed by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and is the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics.
The main sources of data used for the rates cost element come from Valuation Office Agency estimates for offices. This data is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-floorspace-experimental-statistics
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what planning consents have been granted for the site of the Royal Hospital Haslar; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
My Department does not hold detailed records of the planning history for the Royal Hospital Haslar.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's consultation, Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services, whether firefighters employed by police and crime commissioners will retain the right to take part in industrial action; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Department of Health led joint consultation ‘Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services’ has made clear that should Police and Crime Commissioners assume responsibility for fire and rescue services, the important distinction between operational policing and firefighting will be maintained. The consultation did not propose to change the current rules around industrial action.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the potential for efficiencies from closer working between the ambulance and fire services; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Government’s continued ambition is for greater collaboration between fire and local authorities and between fire, police and ambulance services to deliver a more efficient and effective service for the public. My Department has made available a significant amount of funding to fire and rescue authorities in 2015-16 for this purpose injecting over £65 million to support collaboration projects.
Our goal is to improve outcomes for the public through closer joint working across all the emergency services, including the NHS ambulance service. My Department in conjunction with the Home office and the Department of Health is currently consulting on the Government's manifesto commitment of enabling closer working between emergency services.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many firefighters in each fire and rescue authority are qualified trauma technicians.
Answered by Greg Clark
This information is not held centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of development land with planning consent is controlled by central government departments.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Whilst the Government does not hold this information centrally, it is committed to releasing surplus public sector land and property to deliver savings, and support economic growth, in particular housing. We are working with Departments to review and accelerate release of sites with capacity for up to 150,000 homes by 2020. We have also set up the Government Property Finder website which allows members of the public to map and search the Government Estate, including land and buildings for sale and rent.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of brownfield land is controlled by central government departments.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold this information.
The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to have a statutory register of brownfield land that is suitable for housing, improving the availability and transparency of up-to-date information.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Community Right to Bid scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Since introduction in 2012, uptake of the Community Right to Bid has increased year-on-year. More than 2,600 much loved assets are now listed across the country, including nearly 900 pubs; and 150 assets have been transferred into community ownership.