Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing communal worship to continue during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Luke Hall
With regret, places of worship will be closed for communal prayer. As the rate of infection is rising, we have made the decision to close a broad range of premises, including places of worship. These measures are designed to limit the number of interactions that people have and therefore reduce the risk spread.
Places of worship are permitted to open for individual prayer and for the recording or live streaming of services so that worshippers can participate at home. In addition, funerals are also permitted and can be attended by a maximum of thirty people.
The regulations now in force will expire on 2?December, at which point we hope to be able to ease restrictions.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to coastal communities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall
This Government recognises the unique challenges facing coastal communities and is committed to levelling up all areas of the UK. Through our £229 million Coastal Communities Fund we are supporting communities across England. Now, through the £3.6 billion Towns Fund we are investing up to £25 million in 23 coastal towns - including Towns Deals recently announced for Blackpool and Torquay.
On top of this, the Government has provided £6.4 billion to councils for their ongoing work to support communities during the pandemic.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has an evidential basis for removing the statutory requirement to publicise planning applications in local newspapers.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local planning authorities are required to publicise certain types of planning applications in local newspapers as set out in Article 15 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.
In the response to coronavirus restrictions, temporary regulations have been introduced to supplement the existing statutory publicity arrangements for planning applications. Local planning authorities now have the flexibility to take other reasonable steps to publicise applications if they cannot discharge the specific requirement for newspaper publicity – for instance, if the local newspaper is not now in circulation.
These steps can include the use of social media and other electronic communications, such as local online news portals, and must be proportionate to the scale and nature of the proposed development. However, if a local planning authority is required to publicise a planning application in a local newspaper, and that paper is still in circulation, then they must continue to do so.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing the statutory requirement to publicise planning applications in local newspapers.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local planning authorities are required to publicise certain types of planning applications in local newspapers as set out in Article 15 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.
In the response to coronavirus restrictions, temporary regulations have been introduced to supplement the existing statutory publicity arrangements for planning applications. Local planning authorities now have the flexibility to take other reasonable steps to publicise applications if they cannot discharge the specific requirement for newspaper publicity – for instance, if the local newspaper is not now in circulation.
These steps can include the use of social media and other electronic communications, such as local online news portals, and must be proportionate to the scale and nature of the proposed development. However, if a local planning authority is required to publicise a planning application in a local newspaper, and that paper is still in circulation, then they must continue to do so.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the list of businesses allowed to open in phase three of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions; and whether he plans to issue guidance to those companies on being covid-19 secure.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Following scientific evidence and advice, on 10 May, the Prime Minister announced a roadmap for reopening. As part of Step three of the roadmap, the ambition is to open at least some of the remaining businesses and premises that have been required to close, including personal care (such as hairdressers and beauty salons) hospitality (such as food service providers, pubs and accommodation), public places (such as places of worship) and leisure facilities (like cinemas).
They should seek to meet the COVID-19 Secure guidelines provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to continue to limit the spread of the virus. Some venues where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may not be able to re-open safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part.
The Government’s current planning assumption is that this step will be no earlier than 4 July, subject to the five tests, and further scientific advice provided closer to the time.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what financial support will be provided to Business Improvement Districts facing a reduction in income caused by businesses not paying business rates during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We have announced a substantial package of support to businesses, and we are exploring other ways we can support them.
At present, businesses within a Business Improvement District (BID) will still need to pay into their BID to ensure the BID body can still provide vital support to their local business communities.
We know that a number of BIDs are currently in the process of issuing their bills to members, and we would hope that they can come to sensible arrangements on charging given the current circumstances.
The Coronavirus Act also includes new measures to support BIDs: we have introduced a delay to BID ballots due to take place between now and 31 December 2020 until March 2021. This will ensure that they are conducted in a safe and effective way.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on the development of the Shared Prosperity Fund; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
Now we have left the European Union, we will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will bind together the whole of the United Kingdom, tackling inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations.
The Government has been clear that final decisions about the design of the Fund must take place after a cross-government Spending Review. In the meantime, stakeholder views from across the UK have helped inform progress on policy design.