Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to meet representatives of the Training for Women Network Ltd to discuss the provision of training places through the Athena project.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department followed the published assessment criteria in taking selection decisions and ensured allocation of funding to a suitable mix of projects to address all geographies and range of needs. Unsuccessful bidders will receive feedback on their bid in due course and my officials can further discuss the reasons why bids were unsuccessful where appropriate.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations for 2022-23 to 2024-25 have been published. We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts across the UK, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime. Funding for 2025 onwards is a matter for the Spending Review in 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 3 March 2021 to Question 159322 on UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), what steps he is taking to ensure that UKSPF funding in Northern Ireland will at least match previous receipts from EU structural funds in each of the next five years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department followed the published assessment criteria in taking selection decisions and ensured allocation of funding to a suitable mix of projects to address all geographies and range of needs. Unsuccessful bidders will receive feedback on their bid in due course and my officials can further discuss the reasons why bids were unsuccessful where appropriate.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations for 2022-23 to 2024-25 have been published. We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts across the UK, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime. Funding for 2025 onwards is a matter for the Spending Review in 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason there is no appeal process for decisions on applications under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department followed the published assessment criteria in taking selection decisions and ensured allocation of funding to a suitable mix of projects to address all geographies and range of needs. Unsuccessful bidders will receive feedback on their bid in due course and my officials can further discuss the reasons why bids were unsuccessful where appropriate.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations for 2022-23 to 2024-25 have been published. We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts across the UK, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime. Funding for 2025 onwards is a matter for the Spending Review in 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding has been allocated to organisations in Northern Ireland by the European Social Fund in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In Northern Ireland, the European Social Fund is managed by the Department for the Economy.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding will be allocated to organisations in Northern Ireland through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will act as the successor to the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund across the United Kingdom.
Within Northern Ireland, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £126,854,145 of new funding for local investment to March 2025. The Investment Plan details how Northern Ireland's overall allocation will be spent and the impact that we expect it to have.
Having announced our first 'green spaces' projects in February, we plan to announce the outcome of the economic inactivity competition shortly. This will represent investment of over one-third of the fund, and the Investment Plan sets out our intention to go on and support a range of other interventions, including support for local businesses, as well as communities and place packages over the period to March 2025.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2022 to Question 21205 on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, if he will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of the (a) Northern Ireland Executive and (b) his Department's scheme for payments to sponsors.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The department has agreed with each of the Devolved Administrations the mechanism for making "thank you" payments. The payments process will be reviewed on an ongoing basis based on data received including from English Councils and Devolved Administrations.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 8018, on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the arrangements in place for making payments to sponsors.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive will manage payments to sponsors.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of issuing thank you payments under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is providing £10,500 funding per guest to support Ukrainian families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Councils provide guests with a £200 initial payment and guests are able to work, study and access benefits. The Government also provides a £350 optional “thank you” payment to recognise sponsors generous offer to accommodate people from Ukraine.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including the reuse of existing buildings in the Planning for the Future reforms.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Planning White Paper consultation closed on 29 October 2020, and we are currently considering the responses. My Department is undertaking further detailed policy development on individual elements of the proposals. Policy developed as part of these reforms will apply to England only.
The existing National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to prioritise brownfield land, which includes land containing existing buildings, for development wherever possible. Local authorities are best placed to assess the potential of individual sites, and each authority is required to publish a register of its developable brownfield suitable for new homes.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with Belfast City Council on City Deals since 8 June 2017.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Department of Communities and Local Government has not had any contact with Belfast City Council since 8 June 2017.
However, officials from the department met with Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Office to discuss the deal.
The Department works with territorial offices in relation to city deals in devolved administrations including in Northern Ireland and we stand ready to support the development of a Belfast deal.