Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in Mid Dorset and North Poole has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.
The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.
Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:
East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and
Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in the East Dorset District Council area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.
The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.
Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:
East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and
Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Purbeck District Council area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.
The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.
Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:
East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and
Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Poole Unitary Authority area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.
The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.
Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:
East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and
Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on plans to allow local councils to retain business rates.
Answered by Marcus Jones
DCLG confirmed at the Spending Review our intention, by the end of this Parliament, to allow local government to keep 100% of the business rates they raise locally. We have had initial discussions with local government representative bodies and individual authorities about the reform programme. We will broaden and deepen those discussions in the New Year.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what help his Department will provide to assist local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees over the next five years.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Local authorities have played a vital role in helping those Syrian refugees arriving here to settle into a new life in the UK. The Syrian Resettlement Team, made up of officials from Home Office, DCLG and DFID, is working closely with those local authorities that wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, helping to manage the process of accepting refugees for resettlement, providing help and advice where appropriate.
At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help councils to house refugees.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Those who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection must qualify under local rules set by the relevant local authority and have sufficient priority under the local authority’s allocation scheme to be eligible for social housing, just as anyone else.
At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what financial support his Department plans to provide to local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees in years two to five of the vulnerable persons relocation scheme.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
At the Spending Review the Government committed around £130 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five. There will also be support for education and healthcare, and a special cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees.