Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been considered for calling in by his Department since the beginning of 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As of early December, 404 cases have been or are currently under consideration for call in in 2020.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings have been (a) approved and (b) completed in (i) Wakefield, (ii) West Yorkshire and (iii) England in 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The number of housing units granted planning permission in England in the year ending 30 June 2020 is available in Planning Applications in England: January to June 2020, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planning-applications-in-england-january-to-june-2020 (page 10). Separate figures for Wakefield or West Yorkshire are not available.
Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling completions for Wakefield, each local authority in West Yorkshire, and England, in each quarter to June 2020, are shown in Live Table 253a at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building. These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle antisemitism in (a) Wakefield constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we are taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. We became the first country to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism in 2016 and we work with the Cross-Government Working Group to Tackle Antisemitism which ensures we can respond quickly to the concerns of Jewish communities. We also provide funds to a number of projects that work across the country to tackle Antisemitism; for example we fund the Antisemitism Policy Trust to support their work to tackle online antisemitism?and help combat this growing area of concern.
This Government is also providing?£14 million?this?year, and provided over £65 million to date, for the Protective Security Grant to protect Jewish schools and community buildings.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has undertaken to tackle islamophobia in (a) Wakefield constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.
Answered by Luke Hall
Muslims in our country should be able to practice their faith in freedom. We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted. We have supported Tell MAMA?(Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks)?with?just over £2.8 million between 2016 and 2020 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred. To remain live to the issues facing Muslim communities, we continue to support the work of the cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group which provides valuable advice to Government on challenges faced by Britain’s Muslim communities and how to address those challenges. We have also established the Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant Scheme will support established community groups and civil society organisations to run short projects that champion the government's commitment to building a diverse and tolerant society for all faiths and races. Up to £2 million is available for projects to boost shared values and tackle religiously and racially- motivated hate crime.