Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many councils do not currently have a five-year land supply.
Answered by Lord Barwell
We do not hold information centrally on how many local planning authorities do not have a five-year land supply for housing. A local planning authority's five-year land supply position changes frequently and is subject to market conditions. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to keep their land supply under regular review.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 9722, what proportion of land is now covered by a local plan.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
239 of 338 local planning authorities (71%) have an adopted Local Plan and 287 (85%) have published a Local Plan. Approximately 67% of England’s land area is covered by adopted Local Plans and 87% covered by published plans.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many parish councils were created in the last Parliament.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department for Communities and Local Government received notification of some 40 newly created Parish Councils during the last Parliament.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of protection within the National Planning Policy Framework for ancient woodland.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The existing protection for ancient woodland in the National Planning Policy Framework is strong. The Framework is clear that planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including ancient woodland, unless the need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what measures his Department has in place for helping to ensure that areas without parish or town councils are (a) serving demand for allotments and (b) ensuring adequate protection for currently designated allotment land.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Responsibility for the provision and management of allotments rests with local authorities. Section 23 of the Allotments and Smallholdings Act 1908 places a duty on councils (excluding London Boroughs) to provide allotments where they perceive there is a demand for them. This is a matter for each council bound by the duty to determine.
Local authorities are required under Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 to obtain consent from the Secretary of State to dispose of statutory allotments. Section 8 applications are considered against criteria set out by the Secretary of State. The department published guidance in January 2014 - Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and alternatives - which clarifies the legal and policy safeguards in place to ensure that disposal is properly and thoroughly handled. The guidance is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/allotment-disposal-guidance-safeguards-and-alternatives.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of guidance issued to councils on budget transparency.
Answered by Marcus Jones
DCLG published a plain English guide to open and accountable local government in August 2014. Ultimately it is for local decision makers to decide what information should be recorded and publicly available on the basis of the national rules and for local electors to hold them to account for this.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what incentives his Department provides to encourage local authorities to build retirement and adapted housing.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are committed to increasing the diversity and choice of housing for older people. We know that the right housing can help people to have the lifestyle they want in later life, and help people stay healthier for longer. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, and the needs of different groups in the area, including older people and disabled people. In March 2015 we strengthened our planning guidance further to encourage local authorities to recognise the importance for planning for older people’s housing.
Local authorities are eligible to bid for capital grant funding for specialised housing for older people, including adapted housing through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme, which includes funding for supported housing and the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund.
To help older people stay healthier for longer in their existing home the Government provides the Disabled Facilities Grant, which is part of the Better Care Fund. This capital grant for adaptations is paid to local authorities in England to fund the provision of home adaptations (including stair lifts, level access showers and, in some instances, home extensions) to help disabled people to live as comfortably, safely and independently as possible in their own homes for longer. In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that funding for the Grant will rise to over £500 million by 2020. Annual allocations for the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many enterprise zone bid applications have been received in each region.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
I am delighted to confirm that we received 54 applications in the new Enterprise Zone bidding round by the closing date of Friday 18 September. The breakdown of applications is as follows;
Area | Number of bids received |
East of England | 6 |
East Midlands | 9 |
North East | 2 |
North West | 9 |
South East | 9 |
South West | 8 |
West Midlands | 6 |
Yorkshire & Humber | 5 |
TOTAL | 54 |
In view of the number of applications received, it will be a very competitive process and only the strongest bids will be selected.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new houses was built on brownfield land between May 2010 and May 2015.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Statistics for 2013/14 were published in August 2015. These statistics showed that in 2013/14, 60 per cent of new residential addresses, including conversions to residential use, were created on previously developed land.
The figures in the 2013/14 publication are the first in the new series and so are not directly comparable to the previous Land Use Change Statistics which last published data covering the year 2011.
The Land Use Change Statistics provide the Department’s official source for estimating the proportion of new residential development on previously developed land (brownfield). They were historically collected from 1985 to 2011. The previous data collection was expensive to run. By switching to an innovative new methodology the Department has made significant savings whilst providing a statistical series more suitable for detailed statistical and spatial analysis than before.
Historical Land Use Change statistics are available on the Department's website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/land-use-change-statistics#archived-publications
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of land is covered by a neighbourhood plan.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
My Department does not collect information on the proportion of land covered by neighbourhood plans. There are now almost 1,500 designated neighbourhood planning areas. 222 local planning authorities in England (66% of the total) include at least one designated neighbourhood planning area.
We estimate that over 8 million people live within a neighbourhood area, representing around 15% of the population in England.