Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Levelling Up Fund Round 3: explanatory and methodology note on the decision-making process, published on 20 November 2023, whether any projects that scored 74.25 or above did not qualify for funding as a result of the cap on regeneration projects outside priority areas by local authority or ILT1 area.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Government has published an explanatory and methodology note which sets out the decision-making process for selecting successful bids for Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. As set out in paragraph 15 ‘projects were capped at one per local authority and four per ITL1 region. These were selected in score order, except for in ITL1 regions where ITL2 distribution could be maximised, where an additional cap of one project per ITL2 in this stage was introduced to improve regional spread’. A threshold of above 74.25 for scores was applied in England and Wales, and 72.25 in Scotland, with further requirements set out in the note.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2023 to Question 1396 on Local Government: Standards, which local authorities were identified as potentially in need of a review under the tender for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, reference 2022/S 000-024515, published on 1 September 2022.
Answered by Simon Hoare
As the answer to Question UIN1396 set out, the contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement given the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.
The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to requests for Exceptional Financial Support on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Voter Identification Evaluation Form will be required at (a) local government, (b) combined authority mayoral and (c) local authority mayoral elections after 4 May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the answer given here, I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to schedule 1, paragraph 7 of the Elections Act.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he expects the review into the impact of the Voter Identification policy in the May 2023 local elections to be published.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Departmental correspondence with the House of Lord’s Constitution committee is published online and is readily available here, here and here, and with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee here.
As set out last year by ministers to Parliament, we have “already committed to a review that will take place after the May elections. I can confirm our intention that the results of that review should be published no later than November 2023”.
As set out in the Voter Identification Regulations 2022, which are readily available online at the following link, staff at polling stations will collect data in accordance with paragraph 34 of those regulations.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Government review of the impact of Voter Identification in the May 2023 local elections, whether the data collected to record the number of people turned away from polling stations will include data on those who arrive at a polling station without any form of photo ID.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Departmental correspondence with the House of Lord’s Constitution committee is published online and is readily available here, here and here, and with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee here.
As set out last year by ministers to Parliament, we have “already committed to a review that will take place after the May elections. I can confirm our intention that the results of that review should be published no later than November 2023”.
As set out in the Voter Identification Regulations 2022, which are readily available online at the following link, staff at polling stations will collect data in accordance with paragraph 34 of those regulations.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Select Committees on the review of the Voter Identification regulations in the May 2023 elections.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Departmental correspondence with the House of Lord’s Constitution committee is published online and is readily available here, here and here, and with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee here.
As set out last year by ministers to Parliament, we have “already committed to a review that will take place after the May elections. I can confirm our intention that the results of that review should be published no later than November 2023”.
As set out in the Voter Identification Regulations 2022, which are readily available online at the following link, staff at polling stations will collect data in accordance with paragraph 34 of those regulations.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2023 to Question 149495 on Elections: Proof of Identity, when he plans to publish information on expenditure on Voter Authority Certificates.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Information on expenditure will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 12 April 2021 to Question 179209 on Absent Voting: Proof of Identity, whether it is his policy that people applying for a postal vote are required to show additional forms of photo identification.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 179209 on 15 April 2021.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much a Voter Authority Certificate costs to produce per unit.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Further to the UQ response I gave on the floor of the House, I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to publicly-available information relating to the number of applications for the Voter Authority Certificate which can be found here. Information on expenditure will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of people eligible to vote have applied for a Voter Authority Certificate, broken down by region.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Further to the UQ response I gave on the floor of the House, I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to publicly-available information relating to the number of applications for the Voter Authority Certificate which can be found here. Information on expenditure will be set out in the usual way.