Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 bring forward a statutory instrument to extend the additional 28 day permitted development period for the use of land for any purpose provided under the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development and Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 beyond 31 December 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
These time-limited measures were introduced to support businesses and communities during the COVID-19 crisis. We continue to keep temporary rights under review.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 change his Department's guidance to allow parish councils that have a precept to claim discretionary covid-19 grants for village halls.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 7 August the Government published a clarification regarding the eligibility of town and parish councils for all three Covid-19 business support grant schemes. The conditions that town and parish councils must meet in order to qualify for each have been set out in the guidance for each of these schemes, which can be found on the Government website.
The precepting authority exclusion does not apply to the Small Business Grants Fund or the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund. Therefore town and parish councils would be eligible for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund if they meet all of the scheme criteria.
However properties that are eligible for the Small Business Grants Fund should be awarded a grant through this scheme and would then be ineligible for a Local Authority Discretionary Grant. Local authorities will therefore need to ensure that the correct form of grant funding is provided. Local authorities should also note that town and parish councils are not eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund due to the precepting authority exclusion.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 issue guidance to the Planning Inspectorate on appeals relating to housing development sites which local authorities have begun removing from local plans.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that decision-takers may give weight to relevant policies in emerging plans according to their stage of preparation, the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies, and their degree of consistency with policies in the Framework. This is made clear in existing Planning Practice Guidance.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2020 to Question 23600 on Towns Fund, what the capital expenditure was for each local authority in 2018-19.
Answered by Simon Clarke
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 23600 on 5 March 2020.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the capital budget was for each lead local authority in the 100 areas selected to apply for the Towns Fund in the financial year 2019-20.
Answered by Simon Clarke
100 places were selected to develop proposals for Town Deals as part of the Towns Fund. In December 2019, local authorities received a share of £16.4 million revenue capacity funding to support the development of a Town Deal Board and Investment Plan for each of the selected towns in their area, up to a maximum of £173,029 per town. To date, no capital funding has been allocated.