Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Living Standards Mission announced in the Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, published on 2 February 2022, if he will publish the (a) metrics and (b) minimum thresholds by which he plans to determine what is a globally competitive city, broken down by (i) small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance, (ii) institutional investment, (iii) mobile investment and trade policy, (iv) adoption and diffusion and (v) manufacturing.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The preliminary list of metrics is published in the Technical Annex alongside the White Paper. Informal consultation and engagement will continue after publication to check the current suite of metrics is correct and identify additional metrics that can support implementation of the missions.
A globally competitive city is one that can compete with other major cities in attracting investment and talent from around the world. These cities typically excel across multiple measures of economic, social, and cultural performance - such as strong institutions, high productivity, good quality education, competitive tax regimes, and effective infrastructure - making them highly attractive to firms and individuals. To measure this, we will use a basket of metrics including, but not limited to, GVA per filled job, services trade balance, share of Knowledge Intensive Service sectors, percentage of 16-64 year olds with an NVQ4+ qualification and city density, all across City Regions.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
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 the details of awards made under the (a) Levelling Up Fund, (b) Towns Fund, (c) Future High Streets Fund and (d) Community Ownership Fund in Hemsworth constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We have published details of awards made under round one of the Levelling Up Fund, Town Deals, the Future High Street Fund, the Community Renewal Fund and round one of the Community Ownership Fund.
Applications submitted to government under round one of the Levelling Up Fund were prioritised locally including MP consultation and endorsement. Projects proposed under the Community Renewal Fund and Community Ownership Fund were also prioritised by local leaders including the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Local Authorities. We are investing £49m across two Town Deals in Wakefield alongside a further £20 million through round one of the Levelling Up Fund. This will lead to a stronger and more resilient local economy, the benefits of which will be felt by the wider area.
We will be providing more details and launching round two of the Levelling Up Fund and Community Ownership Fund in the Spring which will provide further opportunities for places like Hemsworth to submit proposals. There will also be opportunities for investment through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the pre-publication guidance of which was announced on 2 February 2022, with the expectation that prioritisation of projects to be supported in West Yorkshire will be determined at a local level.
Beyond these programmes we are providing a total package of investment and transfer of powers worth £1.8 billion through the West Yorkshire Devolution Deal, which includes long term funding of £38 million per annum for 30 years providing the freedom for local leaders to decide how best to meet local needs.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the crime mission in the Levelling Up White Paper, what the projected fall in homicide, serious violence and neighbourhood crime is in each year to 2030 for (a) Hemsworth constituency, (b) Wakefield local authority and (c) Yorkshire and Humber region.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Levelling Up White Paper set out 12 ambitious new missions that are targeted, measurable and time-bound declarations of the progress needed to achieve levelling up.
The metrics through which progress on the crime mission will be measured, including the geographical coverage, are set out in Figures 15 and 16 in the Technical Annex to the White Paper. Metrics relating to the homicide and serious violence are available at the Police Force Area level. An expansion of the Crime Survey is being explored that would support more accurate estimates of neighbourhood crime levels in these areas and will provide a richer picture of what is happening to neighbourhood crime levels at police force area level.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the missions announced in the Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, published on 2 February 2022, if he will publish the projected (a) increase in the number of first-time buyers and (b) decrease in non-decent rented homes for (a) Hemsworth constituency, (b) Wakefield local authority and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber region in each year to 2030.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Levelling Up White Paper set out 12 ambitious new missions that are targeted, measurable and time-bound declarations of the progress needed to achieve levelling up.
The housing mission aims to provide a path to home ownership for first-time buyers as well as reducing the number of non-decent rented homes by 50%. The UK Government is committed to developing a metric for first-time buyer numbers per year that can be published at the sub-national level within the next year, to track progress against this mission. Ahead of these data being made public, supporting metrics drawn from the English Housing Survey will be used to track home ownership trends. The headline metric for housing quality is the proportion of renters living in housing that does not meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). Currently, housing quality can only be measured at the regional level in England. The metric will look at outcomes in all regions in England, as all areas have pockets of poor outcomes.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 January 2022, HCWS525 on Protecting the Integrity of our Elections, whether the voter card will be designed to have the capacity to hold (a) biometric or electronic data and (b) further fields of data or information for future uses.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Electoral Registration Officers will have the power to determine an application and issue Voter Cards. Information relating to applications for Voter Cards and issued Voter Cards will be held by Electoral Registration Officers at the local authority level.
The process for confirming the identity of an applicant for a Voter Card will be set out in secondary legislation, and will include a range of data sources that an Electoral Registration Officer may choose to check an application against, to ensure an inclusive process. The Government intends to allow for online applications to be made via a centralised website, and applications made in this way may be checked automatically against data sources held by central government - for example checking a national insurance number. The results of any such checks would be passed on to the relevant Electoral Registration Officer, for them to consider while making their decision.
The Government has no plans for Voter Cards to have the capacity to hold biometric or electronic data. As set out in the Government’s recent policy statement ‘Protecting the integrity of our elections: Voter identification at polling stations and the new Voter Card”, published on 6 January 2022, Voter Cards will be designed solely for the purpose of voting at polling stations. They will intentionally not include information that is not necessary for that purpose - for example they will not show a date of birth.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 January 2022, HCWS525 on Protecting the Integrity of our Elections, what additional sources of data the issuing authority will be required to check before issuing a voter card.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Electoral Registration Officers will have the power to determine an application and issue Voter Cards. Information relating to applications for Voter Cards and issued Voter Cards will be held by Electoral Registration Officers at the local authority level.
The process for confirming the identity of an applicant for a Voter Card will be set out in secondary legislation, and will include a range of data sources that an Electoral Registration Officer may choose to check an application against, to ensure an inclusive process. The Government intends to allow for online applications to be made via a centralised website, and applications made in this way may be checked automatically against data sources held by central government - for example checking a national insurance number. The results of any such checks would be passed on to the relevant Electoral Registration Officer, for them to consider while making their decision.
The Government has no plans for Voter Cards to have the capacity to hold biometric or electronic data. As set out in the Government’s recent policy statement ‘Protecting the integrity of our elections: Voter identification at polling stations and the new Voter Card”, published on 6 January 2022, Voter Cards will be designed solely for the purpose of voting at polling stations. They will intentionally not include information that is not necessary for that purpose - for example they will not show a date of birth.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 January 2022, HCWS525 on Protecting the Integrity of our Elections, which authorities or bodies will have authority to issue a voter card; and what plans his Department has for there to be arrangements to maintain a national database of voter cards.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Electoral Registration Officers will have the power to determine an application and issue Voter Cards. Information relating to applications for Voter Cards and issued Voter Cards will be held by Electoral Registration Officers at the local authority level.
The process for confirming the identity of an applicant for a Voter Card will be set out in secondary legislation, and will include a range of data sources that an Electoral Registration Officer may choose to check an application against, to ensure an inclusive process. The Government intends to allow for online applications to be made via a centralised website, and applications made in this way may be checked automatically against data sources held by central government - for example checking a national insurance number. The results of any such checks would be passed on to the relevant Electoral Registration Officer, for them to consider while making their decision.
The Government has no plans for Voter Cards to have the capacity to hold biometric or electronic data. As set out in the Government’s recent policy statement ‘Protecting the integrity of our elections: Voter identification at polling stations and the new Voter Card”, published on 6 January 2022, Voter Cards will be designed solely for the purpose of voting at polling stations. They will intentionally not include information that is not necessary for that purpose - for example they will not show a date of birth.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing measures to prevent (a) regulated donees from accepting donations or loans from people who are (i) not domiciled in the UK and (ii) non-resident for tax purposes and (b) regulated donees and non-party campaigners from accepting donations or loans from people who are not tax compliant.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
There is a long-standing principle – as originally recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1998 – that permissible donors are those on the UK electoral register. If one can vote for a party, then one should be able to donate to it. Foreign donations are banned.
Election law already allows for registered British expatriates to vote in UK Parliamentary elections, and also to make donations (up to 15 years from leaving the UK). The Election Bill makes no change to that principle, merely it removes the arbitrary 15 year period.
Since the adoption of universal suffrage, taxation has never been the basis for enfranchisement in our democracy. Some British citizens who work abroad, and who can already vote under the current ‘15 year rule’, only pay tax in the overseas country in which they work. Equally, other British expatriates will currently pay tax on their pensions, property and investments in the UK, but still not have a right to vote.
Within the UK, those who do not pay income tax, such as those earning less than the tax-free personal allowance, rightly remain entitled to vote. Similarly, full-time students are legally exempt from paying council tax, but rightly still have the right to vote in local elections for the local authority which sets that council tax.
I also refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 1 July 2019, Official Report, UIN 268969, on the flaws with provisions in the last Labour Government's Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.
The Elections Bill does provide for separate measures to prevent backdoor foreign spending.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing measures which extend the imprint rules to digital communications in order for digital campaign material to have an imprint saying who is behind the campaign and who created it.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Voters value transparency and that is why the Elections Bill introduces a digital imprints regime so that when voters engage with politics online they are clear who is promoting the campaign material and on whose behalf.
Reflecting positive feedback to the technical consultation Transparency in digital campaigning launched by the Cabinet Office last year, the digital imprints regime proposed as part of the Elections Bill will go much further than the current imprint rules for printed material, further increasing transparency and empowering voters to make informed decisions about the digital campaign material they are viewing online.
A digital imprint must include the name and address of the promoter of the material and the name and address of any person or organisation on behalf of whom the material is being promoted. Breaching the digital imprint rules will be an offence and the Electoral Commission and police will have shared responsibility for the enforcement of the regime.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing measures to require any private company that makes a political donation or loan to declare their ultimate beneficial ownership and be able to demonstrate that their owners would be permissible donors if they had given the same money directly.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000, political parties and regulated donees have a legal obligation to ensure that they only receive donations from permissible sources – and in the case of companies, that they are properly carrying on business in the UK. Companies must be registered with Companies House and incorporated in the UK. Corporate donations amounting to over £5,000 in any twelve month period must also be authorised via a company resolution.
The Electoral Commission already produces guidance which helps campaigners understand if a donor is permissible. This includes detailed guidance on verifying that a company is legitimately ‘carrying on business’.
Notwithstanding, the Government is supportive of the principle of further guidance to promote best practice and support campaigners in taking a risk-based approach.