Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the value is of business rates relief provided to (a) the retail sector, (b) the hospitality sector, (c) the leisure sector and (d) airports in England during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The total value of business rates relief provided to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England was £11.1 billion in 2020/21, and is forecasted to be £5.8 billion in 2021/22
The renewed Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) that the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget provides support for eligible businesses with their fixed costs for a further six months, up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities for the second half of the 2021-22 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £4 million.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing pet deposits or pet damage insurance for residential rental accommodation.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 introduced a cap of five weeks' rent for properties with an annual rent below £50,000, and banned most letting fees charged to tenants. The five week cap should be considered the maximum, rather than the default amount charged. This approach should therefore accommodate private renters who wish to keep pets, without the need for a separate pet deposit. The Government has no plans to amend the Tenant Fees Act 2019 at this time.
Both tenants and landlords are able to choose to take out insurance for pet damage, however the Tenant Fees Act prevents landlords requiring tenants to take out insurance.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 - Leader of HM Official Opposition
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 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 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.