Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 17987 on Homelessness: Burnley, if he will provide a link to the relevant page on his Department’s website where allocations of grant funding to Burnley Borough Council are published; and whether his Department publishes information on other support provided to local authorities on gov.uk.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Burnley Borough Council have received £1,080,784 in Homelessness Prevention Grant funding since the first year of the grant, 2021/22. Burnley Borough Council have also been beneficiaries of up to £650,497 through direct allocations and as members of joint local authority bids in Rough Sleeping Initiative funding since they were first funded in 2020/21.
The funding allocations for the Homelessness Prevention Grant are published here: 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24-2024/25. The funding allocations for the Rough Sleeping Initiative are published here:2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23-2024/25.
Policy, guidance, research and grant funding allocations for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping are published here Homelessness and rough sleeping - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 17987 on Homelessness: Burnley, how much funding his Department provided to Burnley Borough Council through the (a) Homelessness Prevention Grant and (b) Rough Sleeping Initiative since 2019.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Burnley Borough Council have received £1,080,784 in Homelessness Prevention Grant funding since the first year of the grant, 2021/22. Burnley Borough Council have also been beneficiaries of up to £650,497 through direct allocations and as members of joint local authority bids in Rough Sleeping Initiative funding since they were first funded in 2020/21.
The funding allocations for the Homelessness Prevention Grant are published here: 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24-2024/25. The funding allocations for the Rough Sleeping Initiative are published here:2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23-2024/25.
Policy, guidance, research and grant funding allocations for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping are published here Homelessness and rough sleeping - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what (a) funding and (b) other support his Department has provided to Burnley Borough Council to tackle (i) homelessness and (ii) rough sleeping since December 2019.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is supporting local authorities to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping through, for example, the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) and the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI). Allocations of Government funding are published on gov.uk.
DLUHC’s dedicated team of homelessness and rough sleeping advisers also work regularly with local authorities to provide expert support in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in their area.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) efficiency of the export controls and licensing regime.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.
We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We draw on all available information, including reports from NGOs and our overseas network.
These Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities.
We are mindful of the commercial pressures exporters face and keep our licensing process under continuous review.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) Hezbollah and (b) other groups sponsored by Iran in Syria do not escalate conflict with Israel during its war with Hamas.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is clear that Hamas is fully responsible for these appalling acts of terror in Israel. We are also clear that Iran poses an unacceptable threat to Israel. We have long condemned Iran's destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial, and military support to several militant and proscribed groups, including Hamas, Hizballah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and further escalates tensions. In his meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 3 November, the former Foreign Secretary made clear that Iran must use its influence with groups in the region to prevent escalation, and that Iran bore responsibility for the actions of groups they had supported over many years. We continue to work closely with our partners to hold Iran to account, and we currently have over 350 sanctions in place against the Iranian regime. We expect to see total international condemnation of the atrocities committed by Hamas. The UK Government will continue to stand with Israel as it faces pressing challenges to its security. We have deployed UK military assets to the region to carry out surveillance and act as a deterrent. On 14 November, the Foreign Secretary also announced targeted sanctions, coordinated with the US, against Hamas leadership (four Hamas leaders and two financiers) to disrupt Hamas operations in Gaza and wherever their leaders base themselves.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the accessibility of the safe-routes announced by Israel for the evacuation of northern Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is calling for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access for aid, including food, water, fuel, and medical supplies, to reach civilians in Gaza. We urge all parties in the conflict to protect civilians, provide safe spaces and comply with International Humanitarian Law. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have pushed for agreements on ongoing humanitarian access to Gaza in meetings with their counterparts in Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Palestinian Authority. We have worked with partners to see the Rafah crossing opened and are now urging Israel to open additional border crossings. We are also pushing for the release of British hostages and foreign nationals and securing safe passage for British Nationals to leave Gaza.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the UK's economic support for Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is providing more than £1.6 billion in economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine. UK support has helped save lives, keep vital Ukrainian public services running and repair energy infrastructure. We continue to assess and monitor all programme assistance to Ukraine. A review of humanitarian spend will be published in late 2023.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that bus services which connect communities are not affected after the current phase of Bus Recovery Grant Funding ends at the beginning of April 2023.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government has made available nearly £2 billion since March 2020, through emergency and recovery grants, to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the bus sector. This support is currently in place until the end of March 2023. The Department is actively considering its support for the bus sector beyond that point.
The Government already provides around £250 million annually to support bus services through the Bus Service Operators Grant, and supports spending of around £1 billion a year so that older and disabled people can travel on buses throughout England for free.
The Government is also taking proactive steps to help increase patronage by providing £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. Over 140 operators covering more than 4,600 routes are participating in the scheme, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support lower league clubs with maintaining stable finances.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. The Government recognises the need for the long-term financial sustainability of football clubs, including those in the lower leagues. The Government will publish a White Paper on Football Governance reforms imminently, to set out our detailed plans to improve the financial stability and governance of football clubs across all leagues.
In addition, throughout the pandemic the Government offered substantial financial support to many football clubs at the National League level through the Sports Survival Package, to ensure their survival throughout the difficult period. Many clubs would have failed without that support.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to support the growth of blockchain innovation in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Treasury is responsible for considering the implications of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in the Financial Services sector; this includes activities relating to cryptoassets.
The government’s ambition is to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology and investment. In April 2022, the government set out a number of reforms which will see the regulation and aspects of tax treatment of cryptoassets evolve.
The Financial Services and Markets Bill ensures that the Treasury can establish the framework for regulating cryptoassets and stablecoins. The government has consulted on the regulation of stablecoins and will consult on its approach to regulating a broader set of investment-related cryptoasset activities in due course. The government believes that having robust and effective regulation will boost innovation - by giving people and businesses the confidence they need to use new technologies safely.
The government has taken a range of broader measures to support blockchain innovation in the UK. The Treasury will set up a Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) Sandbox in 2023, which will allow firms to experiment with new technologies and innovations, including DLT, in providing the infrastructure services that underpin markets. The Treasury is taking powers through the Financial Services and Markets Bill to implement one or more sandboxes.
The government is also exploring the use of DLT in debt instruments to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of financial technology development.
Further consultation on cryptoassets is expected to be published shortly.