Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and public acceptability of the application of the Local Government Act 2003 and the Business Improvements Districts (England) Regulations 2004 (SI2004/2443); and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
The government is committed to supporting Business Improvement Districts, as they have been a key tool in providing business-led improvements to local areas since 2004, and they remain an important part of our high streets and town centre agenda.
The government does not have any specific proposals for amending the Local Government Act 2003 and the Business Improvements Districts (England) Regulations 2004 with respect to Business Improvement Districts at the present time, including any plans to prevent local authorities from voting in Business Improvement Districts ballots or introduce a statutory minimum ballot turnout.
The government keeps the statutory framework for Business Improvement Districts under constant review.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what monitoring takes place to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their duties in ensuring that new buildings are compliant with building regulations.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department carries out a regular Building Control Performance Standards survey to monitor work by local authorities to ensure that new buildings are compliant with the building regulations. Local authorities are asked to report against those standards, which are designed to encourage consistent, high-quality building control services. The Government is assessing options for strengthening the performance of building control bodies, as part of its response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety.