Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the proposed planning changes, what steps his Department will take to protect the supply of affordable housing and ensure it is delivered where it is needed.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and has recently confirmed the details of £12.2 billion of investment. This includes a new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme which will be delivered over 5 years from next year (2021-2026), providing up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. This programme represents the highest single funding commitment to affordable housing in a decade.
Affordable housing is also delivered through developer contributions in the planning system. The Planning for the Future White Paper, published on 6 August, sets out proposals for reform of the planning system in England. This includes reform of developer contributions and proposes a new nationally-set ‘Infrastructure Levy’, which will be designed to deliver at least as much affordable housing as current arrangements. Under the proposed approach, housing associations and providers of affordable housing will continue to play an important role in delivering affordable housing secured through developer contributions.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 how Congleton (a) has benefited to date and (b) will benefit from the Towns Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
The £3.6 billion Towns Fund will drive the economic regeneration of towns across England to deliver long-term economic and productivity growth.?As you know, there are currently an initial 101 places developing proposals for Town Deals to benefit from the Towns Fund.?
I am pleased to confirm we have committed to a future competitive round of the Towns Fund. This will allow for more places?like Congleton?to benefit from the economic regeneration of towns to deliver long-term economic and productivity growth.?We will publish details of the competition in due course.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 how Congleton constituency has (a) benefited from to date and (b) will benefit from the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
Our £50 million Reopening High Streets Safely Fund is playing an important role in getting people back to work, supporting our businesses and helping to reinvigorate our communities. Congleton will benefit from £339,533 that has been made available to Cheshire East Unitary Authority as part of the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund. Already they are using their allocation to enable social distancing in 16 town centres across Cheshire East. They are also delivering a communications campaign for the people of Congleton, ensuring they know about the measures in place to support the safe reopening of their high streets and other commercial areas.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 how Congleton constituency (a) has benefited to date and (b) will benefit from the Future High Streets Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
Our high streets and town centres have a crucial role to play in the recovery of local economies and our Towns Fund, which includes up to £1 billion as part of the Future High Streets Fund competition, is key to delivering this.
In line with the Future High Street Fund supplementary guidance, Cheshire East Council were eligible to submit three Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to the fund based on population size. Congleton was not selected by Cheshire East Council at the EOI stage. In due course we will bring forward a competitive round of the Towns Fund and will welcome proposals from local authorities to transform our towns and high streets driving up long term regeneration and economic growth.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 how the High Streets Task Force will benefit towns in (a) Congleton constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government is providing support to local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, giving high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. Over five years this is providing hands-on support to local areas in England to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts. The Task Force, hosted by a consortium led by the Institute of Place Management, is also providing training and help to improve coordination between different groups working to improve their high streets.
In July 2020, the Task Force launched its range of support for high streets in England affected by Covid-19. Support is open to all high streets and town centres that wish to use it, including in Congleton. This includes access to a range of online training, data dashboards and guidance, which will be available on the Task Force’s website. This covers advice and information on local recovery planning, coordination, public space and place marketing. For more information on the Task Force and to kept up to date on its work, local places can register their interest at https://www.highstreetstaskforce.org.uk/.
The Task Force will also be providing specific expert support and training to a number of places over the course of its five-year contract. Some of this support will be prioritised according to need.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 how the Kickstarting Tourism Package has (a) benefited to date) and (b) will benefit Congleton consituency.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Kick-Starting Tourism Package provides £10 million of ERDF funding as part of the government’s drive to boost the recovery of the economy and provide small and medium sized enterprises in tourist destinations help to adapt their businesses following the coronavirus pandemic.
Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub, which forms part of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership has been allocated £223,873 for the area, which encompasses the Congleton constituency. It is working with the business community to target and allocate funding in line with local priorities. ?
Applications are expected to be sought imminently, but no funding awards have yet been made by Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub. No information is yet available on the geographic composition of awards.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his department has taken to ensure that people who have fallen behind with council tax payments are supported to repay rather than becoming liable to pay the full years bill upfront.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Local authorities are responsible for the collection of council tax. Anyone who is concerned about falling behind with their council tax payments should contact their council as soon as possible to discuss the support available. Guidance issued by my Department makes clear that councils should be willing to take account of individuals’ circumstances, and agree affordable and sustainable payment plans to ensure debts are paid off in a reasonable time. The Council will also be able to advise on eligibility for a reduced bill, for example through its local council tax support scheme and any additional help under the £500 million council tax hardship fund. This is part of the Government's response to COVID-19 and enables councils to provide further reductions in bills for economically vulnerable households.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's News story of 2 May 2020, Top-up to local business grant funds scheme, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of permitting unused monies paid to local authorities under the initial Government business support grant funds scheme to be used in the discretionary top-up scheme.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has confirmed to local authorities that the additional costs of the Discretionary Grants Fund will firstly be met in whole or in part from unused monies allocated to them for the Small Business and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Funds. Only where local authorities have disbursed more that 95 per cent of their original funding allocation will their funding will be topped up to ensure that they can provide the full value of the Discretionary Grants Fund.
We recognise that some local authorities may still have residual initial funding available, even accounting for the Discretionary Grants Fund expenditure. Officials continue to stay in close contact with local authorities?to understand how the schemes are performing and advising ministers on any additional support?which could be offered to help businesses and support local economies. No decisions have yet been taken, but the level of demand will continue to be monitored.