Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 9 of the summary of the National Audit Office report, Financial sustainability of local authorities, published on 19 November 2014, what assessment he has made of the effect on the ability of local authorities to meet their statutory duties of the reduction in government funding to local authorities between 2010-11 and 2015-16.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government will publish a formal response to the Public Account Committee's consideration of the National Audit Office report; this will be presented to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take in response to the National Audit Office report, Financial sustainability of local authorities, published on 19 November 2014.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government will publish a formal response to the Public Account Committee's consideration of the National Audit Office report; this will be presented to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on measures to (a) allow town and parish councils to send agendas electronically and (b) reform parish polls.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 3 April 2014, Official Report, Column 780W which explained that we are minded to make regulations to make it clear that councils (including town and parish councils) can send council papers electronically; councillors would continue to have a right to receive them in hard copy by post should they wish. As indicated in that answer, we have been undertaking an informal sounding on the Order with key partners; we now intend to make regulations before the end of the year.
Separately, we also intend to publish a consultation paper on proposals to reform parish polls, further to the enabling provisions introduced in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with counterparts in the Department for Education on his Department's Information Sharing Guidelines and child protection.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government is committed to improving information sharing, for the benefit of vulnerable children and adults, and all members of society. The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguarding Children requires all organisations to have arrangements in place which enable the effective sharing of information. Government Departments have been working to review procedures to identify children and adults at risk of abuse and the outcome of this review was published on 29 July and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/working-together-to-safeguard-children-multi-agency-safeguarding-hubs. The Government is reviewing the guidance for practitioners and managers to dispel mistaken beliefs which prevent information being shared appropriately and effectively.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will update his Department's Information Sharing Guidance.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government is committed to improving information sharing, for the benefit of vulnerable children and adults, and all members of society. The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguarding Children requires all organisations to have arrangements in place which enable the effective sharing of information. Government Departments have been working to review procedures to identify children and adults at risk of abuse and the outcome of this review was published on 29 July and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/working-together-to-safeguard-children-multi-agency-safeguarding-hubs. The Government is reviewing the guidance for practitioners and managers to dispel mistaken beliefs which prevent information being shared appropriately and effectively.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
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 his Department's Information Sharing Guidelines on providing professionals with information about sharing data in the interests of child protection; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government is committed to improving information sharing, for the benefit of vulnerable children and adults, and all members of society. The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguarding Children requires all organisations to have arrangements in place which enable the effective sharing of information. Government Departments have been working to review procedures to identify children and adults at risk of abuse and the outcome of this review was published on 29 July and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/working-together-to-safeguard-children-multi-agency-safeguarding-hubs. The Government is reviewing the guidance for practitioners and managers to dispel mistaken beliefs which prevent information being shared appropriately and effectively.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
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 effect of the localisation of council tax support on the operation and activities of parish and town councils.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government's intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.
I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.
The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that council tax support funding is passed on from billing authorities to parish and town councils in 2014-15.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government's intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.
I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.
The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
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 performance of Queen's Park Community Council since its establishment on 1 April 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We have not made an assessment of the performance of the new Queen's Park Community Council since its establishment on 1 April. The new council had its first elections on 22 May 2014 and it is therefore still very early in the life of the council. Unlike the last Labour Government, we do not micro-manage the performance of councils.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to make parish and town councils aware of the general power of competence in the Localism Act 2011.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are proud of our parish and town councils and the role they play in transforming public services. Any parish or town council can take steps to become eligible to use the general power of competence. When the general power of competence was commenced in February 2012 the Government produced guidance on using the power to hold prayers as part of the formal business at council meetings and wrote to the Society of Local Council Clerks. In July 2013, the Secretary of State addressed the Local Government Association/National Association of Local Councils conference on the general power of competence, encouraging all councils to use the power innovatively without looking to Whitehall for permission.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/general-power-of-competence-speech
We have worked with the National Association of Local Councils to update the mandatory training module required for clerks to be qualified, as part of eligibility criteria for parish councils to be able to use the general power of competence.