Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the level of street lighting they should have in place.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
Street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. I refer my Hon Friend to the answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 535-36W, which provides a comprehensive answer on how there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and places in context the policy of the last Administration which actively encouraged cuts to street lighting.
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) full-time, (b) part-time, (c) self-employed, (d) casual, (e) fixed-term or contract, (f) apprenticeship and (g) commission-only workers there were in each local authority in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department does not collate or hold this information. The Office for National Statistics collects public sector employment statistics through its Quaterly Public Sector Employment Survey. A detailed breakdown of local government staff by local authority in England and Wales is available on the Local Government Assciation website. The information covers the period from 2006 to 2013 and can be found at:
http://www.local.gov.uk/local-government-intelligence/-/journal_content/56/10180/2991184/ARTICLE
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there was in the number of homelessness acceptances arising from the end of a private sector tenancy in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
To assist public scrutiny, a table showing homelessness acceptances due to loss of private sector tenancy, by local authority, in each year from 2003 to 2013 is available in the Library of the House,
Data is not collected by parliamentary constituency.
The dataset shows that under the last Administration, the average numbers were higher than under this Administration, especially when taking into account the changes in the overall size of the private rented sector.
I would note that the rental sector policies of HM Opposition would make the problem worse, by reducing availability of private rented accommodation, forcing up rents and discouraging investment in the private rented sector. By contrast, this Government is increasing house building, delivering £19.5 billion of investment in affordable housing, supporting billions of private investment in new private rented accommodation, providing £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness, and avoiding the excessive regulation which would harm the interests of tenants.
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost was of translation and interpreter services used by each borough and county council in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This information is not centrally held.
As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 5WS, we have given guidance to local authorities to stop translating into foreign languages, as it wastes taxpayers' money, undermines community cohesion, promotes segregation and discourages integration into British society.
In that Statement, it was noted that estimates had suggested that local authorities were previously spending nearly £20 million a year translating into foreign languages. This illustrates the scope for councils to make savings by stopping such translation, using the money instead to support frontline services and keep council tax down.
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent representations he has received on levels of remuneration for local government executives.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government regularly receives representations from concerned taxpayers on the levels of remuneration offered to senior local government officers. Whilst councils are independent employers we have taken steps to increase transparency and accountability on these local decisions.
Under the Localism Act, councils are required to publish an annual pay policy statement setting out their approach to pay, in particularly senior pay. In guidance to which all councils must have regard when preparing their policy statements, we have said that full council should to vote on senior salaries and exit packages of £100,000 or more.
Through the Transparency Code councils are required to publish on-line a range of workforce information including details of senior salaries for employees earning £50,000 or more and detailed organisation charts.This will further open up senior pay to greater public scrutiny. We also published “50 ways to save” a practical guide on how councils can make sensible savings in their budgets. This includes either cutting senior pay or looking at sharing chief executives and senior management teams. I would note that Ministers in this Government cut their salaries in 2010 and then froze them for the rest of this Parliament.