Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 British Nationals (Overseas) who are arriving in the UK are protected from intimidation and hostility from groups in the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall
On 8 April, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a new UK-wide Welcome Programme to support Hong Kong BN(O) status holders with a package worth £43.1 million.
The Government’s ambition is for Hong Kong BN(O)s to feel welcomed and supported and that is why, as a part of the integration package for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders, we have committed £300,000 to set up a new third party hate crime reporting service.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of shared services between local authorities and other parts of the public sector; and what guidance his Department gives to local authorities to encourage them to collaborate and share services with others wherever possible.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department does not issue guidance or collect data on the number of shared services between local authorities and other parts of the public sector.
However, the Local Government Association undertakes an annual survey of shared services in local government. It estimates that at least 96 per cent of councils across the country currently share services. Since 2012, sharing arrangements such as these have delivered over half a billion pounds of savings across local government.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) other stakeholders on enforcement of hate crime legislation following the UK's exit of the EU.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department for Communities and Local Government hosts the Cross-Government Hate Crime Programme which it co-chairs, alongside the Home Office. The programme brings together representatives from relevant Government departments, criminal justice agencies, and an Independent Advisory Group comprising victims, advocates and academics. Since reported increases in hate crime in the summer of 2016, the programme has held many meetings with affected communities and European states to reassure citizens that the UK will do all in its power to protect them from hate crimes. We have increased the capacity to monitor any future raised levels of tension and will respond swiftly to any emerging challenges. The Minister for Faith and Integration meets regularly with the National Police Chiefs' Council Lead for Hate Crime to monitor progress, and has also discussed these matters with Ministers in the Devolved Administrations.Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling online hate crime.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Formal negotiation with the internet industry has been led by officials from across Government, primarily within the Cyber-Hate Working Group and latterly within the Internet Sub-Group of the European Commission High Level Group on Hate Crime. Both of these have led to voluntary agreements being drawn up concerning the code of conduct of industry bodies and their response to complaints from members of the public, for example:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/hate_speech_code_of_conduct_en.pdf
The Government's Hate Crime Action Plan, published last July, includes a commitment to bring Ministers from across Whitehall together with industry bodies, victims and academics to discuss challenges and future opportunities to collaborate.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 support local community pubs.
Answered by Andrew Percy
We are proud to support the community pubs sector wherever possible. That is why we are co-funding the £3.6m More Than a Pub programme to support communities aspiring to own their local pubs. Yesterday I announced a further £50,000 for Pub is The Hub to help them to continue with their excellent work in helping pubs to provide an ever-expanding range of new community-focussed services and meaning that, since April 2013, we have provided Pub is the Hub with £320,000.
In addition the Government cut beer duty and scrapped the beer duty escalator in 2013, with beer duty then being cut again in successive budgets before being frozen at Budget 2016. The sector has stated this is a major factor in helping to stimulate growth.
We have also removed permitted development rights for the change of use or demolition of pubs the community has nominated as an Asset of Community Value. This allows for a local decision on any planning application and provides an opportunity for the community to comment on any proposals.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to allow local authorities to charge different rates to those set nationally for processing planning applications.
Answered by Lord Barwell
We have consulted on future options for planning application fees. We will announce a way forward shortly.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 likelihood of some local authorities not having agreed upon and adopted a local plan by the end of 2017.
Answered by Lord Barwell
As of 30 November 2016, 37 (11%) of 338 local planning authorities had not published a local plan since 2004 and 90(27%) were yet to adopt one.
We expect all authorities to have a plan in place and to keep their plan up to date. We have put that requirement beyond doubt by legislating for it in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill. Information provided to my department from local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate indicates that by the end of 2017, one authority may not have published a plan and 66 may not have adopted a local plan.