Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish details on what funding the Government is providing to local authorities to build community support to prevent people with a learning disability, and/or autism, from being admitted to inpatient units.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Government funding for local support services, including services for those with a learning disability and/or autism, is paid through the Local Government Finance Settlement (England), with an estimated £360 million (gross) spend on commissioned support by local authorities in 2019/20.
Since 2010 Government has invested over £4 billion into the local authority administered Disabled Facilities Grant (2010-11 to 2021-22), to help disabled people remain living safely and independently at home. Forthcoming guidance on Disabled Facilities Grant delivery for local authorities will be clear that the grant is for all disabled people including those with a learning disability and/or autism.
The Government is also investing more than £90 million in 2020/21 in the development of services to support people with a learning disability and/ or autism to have their mental health needs met in the community instead of in a mental health inpatient setting, this comprises of £31 million of mental health recovery funding for the learning disability and autism programme, £40 million as part of the NHS Long Term Plan and £21 million for the Community Discharge Grant.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans his Department has to assist local authorities to ensure that the allocation of the forthcoming Business Rates relief fund is consistent across England.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The £1.5 billion fund will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area whose sectors have been affected by COVID-19 and are ineligible for existing support linked to business rates. Local authorities will use their knowledge of local businesses and the local economy to make awards. My Department will publish guidance in due course to help local authorities set up their local schemes, once the legislation relating to COVID-19 Material Change of Circumstances provisions has passed.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help build new homes on brownfield sites.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is taking a “brownfield first” approach as part of our regeneration efforts and our commitment to preserving the Green Belt and our treasured green spaces and countryside.
Last week we allocated over £57 million to 53 councils through the Brownfield Land Release Fund, which will unlock over 5,600 new homes.
This investment builds on the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund we announced last year to help deliver 26,000 homes in the North and Midlands.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much covid-19 related support funding has been allocated to Crawley Borough Council up to April 2021.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Crawley Borough Council has received £2.9 million in direct funding to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, of which £1.9 million is unringfenced. Crawley Borough Council will receive a further £0.6 million in Covid-19 unringfenced grant in 2021-22. In addition, the Council’s Core Spending Power, in 2021-22, is £13.2 million. Further, West Sussex County Council received £45.9 million in funding for Covid-19 related support in 2020-21, and will receive £15.6 million in additional Covid-19 unringfenced grant in 2021-22.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish his Department's policy on new homes being built near to existing airports; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of that policy with the Government's aim to reduce the number of people significantly affected by aircraft noise.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate location for new housing, and they should do this having regard to the local circumstances that they know best. However, in determining the most appropriate locations, the National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning decisions and policies should avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse effects on health and quality of life.
In a situation where new homes are proposed near an airfield, and therefore could be affected by noise from air traffic, the Framework’s ’agent of change’ principle makes clear that the applicant ’or ‘agent of change' should be required to provide suitable mitigation to address adverse effects of noise. This principle is in place to avoid unreasonable restrictions being placed on existing facilities.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what provisions will be made through reforms of the planning system to better enable strategic planning across broader geographies.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is too early to speculate about the detailed arrangements of the reformed Planning system. However, I can assure you that those parts of the country that currently have strategic plan making responsibilities will continue to do so, and that as part of the reform proposals we are considering how such powers can be made available to other parts of the country where they will be most useful in addressing long term development and infrastructure needs.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 potential effect of the removal of the Duty to Cooperate on sustainable place making.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There is no formal assessment of the effect of the removal of the Duty to Co-operate. However, the Duty has previously led to a number of Local Plans failing at Examination, leading to delays in plan making and some areas not having an up to date local plan for many years.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a future replacement of the Duty to Cooperate will ensure that in two-tier areas all local authorities, including county councils, are involved in plan-making for the future of their areas.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As part of the proposed reform of the planning system announced in the 2020 White Paper, Planning for the Future, the Government announced its intention to abolish the Duty to Co-operate. We are developing our proposals further following the consultation responses to the White Paper. It is too early to speculate about the detailed arrangements which will replace the Duty to Co-operate. However, the reformed planning system will ensure that all relevant authorities are involved in plan making, and this will include County Councils, where applicable. The new system will be more efficient, effective and flexible in the way that plans are prepared.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on the eligibility of wholesale distributors for Local Restriction Support Grants.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
There has been close engagement with the local government sector, including the Local Government Association, throughout the design and implementation of grant support for businesses during the local and national restrictions. Local authorities are responsible for managing grants schemes locally and determining eligibility, including for discretionary grants for businesses that are severely impacted but not eligible for grants for closed businesses.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support regeneration in (a) Crawley and (b) other towns adversely affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This Government is?committed to driving the regeneration of towns across the country as the nation responds to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our immediate response to?Covid-19?builds on an ongoing programme of interventions. This includes the £3.6 billion Towns Fund which aims to deliver long-term economic and productivity growth to towns and high streets. In September 2019, we announced the initial 101 towns, including Crawley, invited to develop Town Deal proposals. We received Crawley’s proposals earlier in the year, and expect to make further announcements of Town Deals in due course. In July, the Prime Minister announced £81.5 million of accelerated funding to the 101 towns to support immediate improvements; Crawley received its £1 million share in September.
Other elements of the Towns Fund include the Future High Streets Fund competition, where announcements of successful bidders will be made in due course, and a further Towns Fund competition. In addition, the High Streets Task Force has also launched a range of online resources to provide support to places across the country: https://www.highstreetstaskforce.org.uk/products-and-services/support-for-all-high-streets/