Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
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 Written Statement of 1 November 2018, Local Government Update, HCWS 1058, from which businesses and organisations in Buckinghamshire he has received representations on local government reorganisation; and what information his Department holds on the amount of grant funding or financial support those businesses and organisations have received from Buckinghamshire County Council in the last three years.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
I received representations on unitarisation in Buckinghamshire from the following local business organisations: Buckinghamshire Business First, Buckinghamshire Business Group, Chiltern Chamber of Commerce, Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce; 18 individual local businesses also made representations. Information about grant funding and support provided by local authorities to business organisations is not held centrally. The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires local authorities to publicise specified data on financial transactions including publishing details of all grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
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 local authorities in Buckinghamshire are able to manage the planning process for the development of High Speed 2 Oxford and Cambridge arc during the transition of those authorities to a single unitary council.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The existing councils will continue to fulfil their role until the new council is in place. Subject to Parliamentary approval, implementing secondary legislation will provide that planning for and implementing the transition to the new unitary council is to be the responsibility of the shadow authority and shadow executive. This will include members of the five existing councils. This ensures that expertise will be available from across the area for such key issues such as HS2 and the Oxford-Cambridge arc.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the savings to be accrued as a result of the establishment of a single unitary district council in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The information to which the Secretary of State had regard when making his decision on the Buckinghamshire proposal for a single unitary council included financial estimates from Buckinghamshire County Council, indicating that savings of some £18 million per year could be made. Information on costs and benefits is available here: https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/council-and-democracy/our-plans/buckinghamshire-unitary/
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what additional financial support he plans to provide to the district councils in Buckinghamshire to enable them to fulfil the requirement to support town and parish councils in the production of neighbourhood plans during the period of preparation for a new single unitary district council.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Government’s New Burdens doctrine ensures local planning authorities receive the relevant resources to meet their statutory obligations under neighbourhood planning. This Government has paid out over £23 million since 2012 to help local planning authorities meet their neighbourhood planning responsibilities. Local authorities can apply for funding of £20,000 for every neighbourhood plan that has passed its independent examination and reached referendum stage. Further details are available in the Chief Planners letter of May 2018 (full link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717060/180605_Chief_Planner_Letter_NPG_18-19_-_revised.pdf).
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
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 the transition to a new single authority in Buckinghamshire will not affect existing programmes to improve the provision of Children's Services.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The leaders of all the Buckinghamshire councils have made clear to me their commitment to ensure the continuing improvement of children’s services. It will be important throughout the transition to the recommendations of the Children’s Commissioner are given due regard. I am considering how these recommendations may best be reflected in the Order which, if approved by Parliament, will implement the new unitary district council and make provision for transitional arrangements.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
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 Written Statement of 1 November on Local Government Update, HCWS1058, what discussions he has had with district councils on implementation of proposals for a new unitary district council in Buckinghamshire; and what assessment his Department has made of the merits of using existing local structures to deliver services to residents.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
I have met with the leaders of all the Buckinghamshire councils who have made clear their ambitions for the new council and their intentions to work together constructively to achieve these. Central to the unitary proposal is devolving services and funding to parish and town councils where they want this, which the proposal explains will enable greater empowerment at a local level.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
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 publish the financial reserves held at 1 November 2018 by each of the local authorities in Buckinghamshire that will be abolished by the creation of a single unitary district council.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The latest data collected from local authorities on their reserves is for 31 March 2018. This is available at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2017-to-2018-individual-local-authority-data-outturn.