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 take steps to improve the transparency of the corporate governance on housing associations.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Housing associations who are registered providers need to adopt a code of governance and explain how they have complied with this code in annual accounts, which are required to be submitted to the Social Housing Regulator. From 2015-16, housing association accounts will also need to report compliance to the Regulator’s standards. These include a requirement to ensure effective governance arrangements that deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for tenants and potential tenants in a transparent and accountable manner.
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 require builders to submit infrastructure delivery plans prior to main planning applications.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
A local planning authority can already require that an infrastructure delivery plan should accompany a planning application if this is specified on a formally adopted ‘local list’ and it is reasonable to expect that the information will be material to the decision.
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 steps he is taking to improve service delivery by local authorities in rural areas; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Government is committed to providing local government with the support it needs to meet future challenges and to continue to improve services that local people want to see.
The Government is also committed to devolving powers from Whitehall to rural as well as urban areas. My rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 16 July historic new powers for Cornwall as part of the first devolution deal for an English county. This includes bus franchising, integration of health and social care, and greater influence on skills and investment funding. As with cities the Government expect to negotiate further devolution deals with rural areas over the coming months and years.
In addition, in 2015-16 the Rural Services Delivery Grant was increased by £4 million to £15.5 million to recognise the challenges the most rural local authorities face in delivering services.
The Government has also provided significant funding to support the sector to improve services (£23.4 million in 2015-16). The sector can shape, through the Local Government Association, how this funding is used to support all authorities, including rural ones.
Furthermore, the productivity plan, published on 10 July, set out our continued commitment to shifting the delivery and design of services to the local level, promoting the use of shared services and increasing the use of digital technology and data sharing to enable services to reduce costs and increase outputs. We will work with areas on these issues ahead of the forthcoming Spending Review.
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 make a recommendation on the appropriate pay for the Chief Executives of Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Local Enterprise Partnerships are independent and voluntary partnerships between local authorities, businesses and other bodies like universities and charities. As such, it is for the partnerships themselves to decide on salaries for their staff. The Government does not provide guidance, nor does it have a specific oversight mechanism, on salary setting. Local Enterprise Partnerships are accountable to their local communities through their civic leaders and engagement with their business community.
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 oversight mechanisms are in place for the setting of salaries paid to Chief Executives of Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Local Enterprise Partnerships are independent and voluntary partnerships between local authorities, businesses and other bodies like universities and charities. As such, it is for the partnerships themselves to decide on salaries for their staff. The Government does not provide guidance, nor does it have a specific oversight mechanism, on salary setting. Local Enterprise Partnerships are accountable to their local communities through their civic leaders and engagement with their business community.
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 guidance he gives to Local Enterprise Partnerships on salaries for Chief Executives of such Partnerships.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Local Enterprise Partnerships are independent and voluntary partnerships between local authorities, businesses and other bodies like universities and charities. As such, it is for the partnerships themselves to decide on salaries for their staff. The Government does not provide guidance, nor does it have a specific oversight mechanism, on salary setting. Local Enterprise Partnerships are accountable to their local communities through their civic leaders and engagement with their business community.
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 level of net migration was assumed in his Department's 2012-based household projections for England.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The 2012-based household projections were based on the population projections published by the Office for National Statistics, which can be found at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/npp/national-population-projections/2012-based-projections/index.html
These are not a forecast of immigration, nor are they a target. They are derived from broad assumptions, based on previous trends. They do not take into account the impact of the Government’s clear and intended policies to ensure controlled immigration.
These include the reforms we have made to strengthen our border and improve the enforcement of our immigration laws. Since 2010, this Government has stripped more than 850 bogus colleges of their rights to sponsor foreign students; cracked down on illegal working and sham marriages; made it harder for people to live in the UK illegally by restricting their access to bank accounts, driving licences, and private housing; and reduced the number of appeal routes to stop people clogging up our courts with spurious attempts to remain in the country.
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 steps he is taking to encourage the provision of broadband in new homes.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
DCLG and DCMS are working with home builders and communications infrastructure providers to develop an action plan to ensure that new developments have access to superfast broadband. That action plan will be made publicly available shortly.
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 each local authority in the Thames Gateway spent on economic development activities in each of the last 15 years for which figures are available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The information is not centrally held in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
I would note that many of the local authorities in the Thames Gateway cover an area larger than just the Thames Gateway, and do not split their published expenditure between inside and outside the Thames Gateway.
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 each local authority in the Thames Gateway spent on regeneration activities in the last 15 years for which figures are available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The information is not centrally held in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
I would note that many of the local authorities in the Thames Gateway cover an area larger than just the Thames Gateway, and do not split their published expenditure between inside and outside the Thames Gateway.