Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to students with housing contracts who plan to move between properties during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
On 13 May we announced that anyone in England could move home as long as they followed the advice at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
This includes students moving into university-run and privately rented accommodation. Everyone involved in the moving process must follow social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.
Letting agents and landlords should also consider how best to conduct tenancy check-ins for new tenancies agreed while broader measures remain in place, taking care to follow government advice on social distancing.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that housing developers follow planning regulations and are granted permission to build only structures that meet planning standards as a result of his reforms to the planning system.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
National planning policy is clear that proposed development of poor design that fails to improve the character and quality of an area should be refused, and that the quality of approved development should not be diminished by subsequent changes to the permitted scheme. It is the role of local planning authorities’ enforcement teams to ensure that development is built in accordance with the planning permission granted.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the five-year listing period of Assets of Community Value currently listed on council registers under provisions in the Localism Act 2011 to cover the duration of the covid-19 lockdown; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Luke Hall
The matter of whether a building or land should be listed as an Asset of Community Value is a decision for local authorities. The five-year listing period set out in the Assets of Community Value scheme is one of several clearly defined thresholds which ensures that all parties are clear about how the scheme operates and their rights and responsibilities. There are no plans to amend this scheme in the short-term, however the government is committed to making it easier for community groups to protect and take over local assets and will continue to explore options to strengthen the rights of community groups do so.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support small, independent breweries during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. In particular, my Department has been working across Government to provide £13 billion of grant funding to help small and rural businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors manage their cashflow through this period.
This support takes the form of two grant funding schemes, the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF).
All businesses in England in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) and Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system will be eligible for a payment of £10,000. This is estimated to apply to around 730,000 businesses across England.
Businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount - which covers retail, hospitality and leisure - on 11 March with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for a cash grant for each eligible property of (a) £10,000 if the rateable value is up to and including £15,000 per annum, or (b) £25,000 if the rateable value is greater than £15,000 and not greater than £51,000.
Local authorities will determine which businesses in their area qualify for a grant and are making contact with eligible businesses directly as a matter of urgency.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2020 to Question 13580 on Local Government: Carbon Emissions, which local authorities are not taking action to reduce emissions from their areas.
Answered by Luke Hall
My Department is engaging with councils and the Local Government Association, as well as other departments in Westminster, to determine what action is being taken across the local government sector in response to the climate challenge, and what support would be appropriate to ensure that the least active councils level up their endeavours, and that best practice from the most active councils is disseminated across the sector.