Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for the roll out of Right to Buy to all Housing Association tenants.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to ensuring housing association tenants have the opportunity to own their homes, and the Midlands pilot announced at Autumn Budget 2017 is a clear demonstration of that. The pilot will launch in the Summer, and will give thousands more housing association tenants the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of home ownership.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the revenue accrued to the public purse from Fibre Tax in each tax year since 2010.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Department does not hold information about business rates yield by type of property.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that public sector workers are prioritised in the purchase of affordable housing that has been developed through the sale of public sector land.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, which was published for consultation on 5 March 2018, makes clear that essential local workers should be taken into account in planning for affordable homes. It defines a broad category of essential local workers for this purpose, as public sector employees who provide frontline services such as health and education.
This change will help ensure that the needs of key public sector workers are reflected in planning policies and development decisions, including schemes involving the sale or development of public sector land.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a right to bid for assets held by local authorities to release land for housing.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Right to Contest already provides a mechanism by which local people can challenge public bodies, including local councils, to release unused and underused land for housing.
The Government has no current plans to change this approach but would give consideration to any specific proposals which come forward.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to end monopoly control of off-road car parking in town centres by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Parking in town centres is provided by both private companies and local authorities. Local authority car parks are strongly regulated by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004. In 2015 the government published statutory guidance to assist Local Authorities in complying with the requirements of the legislation.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on preventing local authorities from setting excessive car parking charges; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Local authorities are best placed to determine the level of parking charges in their local areas. The Government strongly recommends that local authorities take account of the effect of parking charges on their local town centres.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to make local economic partnerships more accountable to local people; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
Local enterprise partnerships (LEP) are independent bodies, supported by an appointed local authority, which acts as an accountable body. The LEP is responsible for the probity of local investment and spending decisions, while the accountable body must ensure proper, transparent decisions that deliver value for money and has the overall responsibility for the government funding allocated to LEPs.
Democratic accountability for LEP decisions is provided through local authority leader representation, with business community representation coming from the business leaders on each LEP board.
Government ensures uniform standards are met through the National LEP Assurance Framework. We have set out an enhanced role for LEPs, including leading on the development of local industrial strategies. As part of that we will be looking at all issues pertaining to their function, including their accountability.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to consider new garden cities or villages within their local plan process; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Following the publication of prospectuses in April 2014 and March 2016 inviting expressions of interest, the government is supporting twenty-four garden villages, towns and cities across England, with the potential for over 200,000 new homes.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that supply of new homes can sometimes be best achieved through planning for larger scale development, such as new settlements or extensions to existing villages and towns that follow the principles of Garden Cities. Working with the support of their communities, local planning authorities should consider whether such opportunities provide the best way of achieving sustainable development.
We have made clear that, following consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, we will amend policy to encourage a more proactive approach by authorities to bring forward new settlements in their plans.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend the right to buy to Low Start Shared Ownership schemes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Under the statutory Right to Buy, people are not eligible who already own a share of their home, including those who purchased their home under Low Start Shared Ownership.
Shared owners can ask their landlords to use the powers given by section 32 of Part II of the Housing Act 1985 to offer them a discount on a further share of their home. It is at the landlord’s discretion whether to offer such a discount.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend right to buy to local authority-owned garages; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Local authority tenants who have garages included in their secured tenancy have the right to buy their garage when they exercise the Right to Buy. If a garage is not in the tenancy the landlord may decide whether to sell.