Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made in levelling up rural regions of the UK.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Levelling up the whole of the United Kingdom, including rural areas, is at the heart of the Government’s agenda. Levelling up means empowering local leaders and communities to drive real change; boosting living standards, particularly where they are lower; spreading opportunity and improving public services, particularly where they are weaker; and restoring local pride across the UK, whether in a large city, town or rural area. That is why the Government has put in place a range of support for rural areas, which includes the £1 billion agreement with the industry to deliver the Shared Rural Network which will see 4G mobile connectivity increase to 95% geographic coverage across the UK.
Rural areas are also able to access support from a range of dedicated growth funds put in place by this Government. For example, the £4.8 billion Levelling up Fund and the upcoming UK Shared Prosperity Fund, worth over £2.6 billion, will help people access opportunity in places in need, such as rural and coastal communities, and for people in disadvantaged groups across the UK.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on the construction industry in Herefordshire of the housing moratorium issued in October 2019.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 59777 on 28 October 2021.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pollution in the River Wye for (a) local housing, (b) the local environment and (c) levelling up.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is committed to delivering the homes this country needs and is striving to level up all parts of the country. The Government's Get Building Fund, via the Marches LEP, has invested £1 million in the River Wye catchment, to aid the construction of Integrated Wetlands to mitigate the sources of nutrient pollution. This will enable the delivery of 1,385 nutrient neutral dwellings in the catchment.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of small firms and shops likely to benefit from the planned reduction in business rates in (a) Herefordshire and (b) England in 2015-16.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes:
These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including:
Central Government also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.
Table 1 (attached) shows the estimated number of properties in 2015-16 within the Herefordshire Council boundary that will benefit from business rates measures extended in this year’s autumn statement. Table 2 (attached) presents this information for England as a whole.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities and community groups on tackling rough sleeping.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government has increased spending to prevent and tackle rough sleeping and homelessness making over £500 million available, giving councils the funding and tools needed to take action against rough sleeping locally.
There are a range of initiatives and projects in place to help rough sleepers, prevent single homelessness and to help those who have been homeless find and sustain accommodation.
Thousands of vulnerable people who have slept rough or were at risk of doing so have received the help they need through No Second Night Out schemes and Streetlink – the digital and national telephone service to enable the public to connect rough sleepers quickly to the local services available so they get the help they need to get them off the streets.
We have supported the roll-out of No Second Night Out nationally through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund for the voluntary sector ensuring rough sleepers do not spend more than one night on the street. In 20 key rough sleeping areas outside London homelessness charities reported that 67% of rough sleepers were helped off the streets after a single night.
We have launched an £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund for local authorities which will improve council services for single people facing the prospect of homelessness by encouraging better partnership working between councils and other local partners.
We are also helping single homeless people to find and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector through our £13 million funding to Crisis. By 2016 we expect the Crisis scheme to have helped 10,000 single homeless people.