Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
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 implications for his policies of the conclusions of the Local Government Ombudsman's report entitled No Place Like Home, on the numbers of disabled people on housing waiting lists.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
No Place Like Home is about the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families.
The law is clear that bed and breakfast accommodation should be used to house homeless families only in an emergency, and then for no longer than six weeks.
The Government is determined to tackle the unlawful and avoidable practice of placing families in bed and breakfast for more than 6 weeks. That’s why we made £2 million available in 2013-14 to support local authorities to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to the problems which drive the use of bed and breakfast accommodation. Those seven councils who received funding reduced their numbers by 96% by December 2013 and their numbers remain low.
Homelessness figures for July to September 2014 show a 38% decrease in the numbers of families with children in bed and breakfast for longer than six weeks, when compared to the same quarter in 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness). This shows that Government’s action on this issue is working.
We are also helping other authorities by drawing on the lessons learned from the funding by investing £80,000 to identify good practice that will be shared with other local authorities.
We would not expect the report to have an impact on the numbers of disabled people on housing waiting lists. The statutory reasonable preference categories ensure that people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds, including grounds relating to a disability, are given appropriate priority on social housing waiting lists.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the role of his Department is in overseeing the compliance of local authorities with rules governing fair competition when awarding contracts for the development of public land.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
All local authorities are bound by common law and must act reasonably and with due regard to their general fiduciary duty to tax payers. The compliance for awarding contracts by local authorities for any work, not just the sale for development of public land, is laid out in the Public Contracts Regulations. There is no day-to-day role for my Department to play in overseeing compliance.
The Secretary of State does have back-stop powers to intervene in a local authority under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 where he is satisfied that the authority is failing to comply with the requirements of Part1 of that Act - to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received on the award by GLA Land and Property Limited of the contract for commercial development of the Royal Albert Dock site to Advanced Business Park.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The procurement and award of this contract is a matter for the Greater London Authority and is not a process in which this Department has been involved.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department has implemented the relevant recommendations from Exercise Senator in 2011 on nuclear accident emergencies.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Exercise Senator 2011 tested the multi-agency response to an incident involving a UK nuclear weapon convoy travelling in Scotland and the simulated release of radioactive material. The Ministry of Defence is the lead Government Department responsible for emergencies involving defence nuclear assets (other than an emergency arising as a result of a terrorist event where the Home Office is appointed as lead).
The Ministry of Defence works closely with devolved administrations (Scotland in this exercise) and local responders to ensure an effective coordinated response. The central government’s concept of operations sets out UK arrangements for responding to and recovering from emergencies.
My Department is responsible for providing the Government liaison function below the national level in England only. The Ministry of Defence invited my Department to observe exercise play at their main building where it considered cross border issues.
The all agency exercise report (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85882/exercise_senator_2011_all_agency_report.pdf) identified recommendations in exercise planning and operational, strategic and media play. There were no recommendations identified for my Department to implement.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether, in delivery of the Zero Carbon Homes policy, house builders can contract with a third party to deliver the carbon abatement measures outside of the built environment in (a) renewable energy technologies, (b) carbon capture and storage and (c) nuclear power in order to meet the house builder's zero carbon obligation.
Answered by Stephen Williams
The Government intends to adopt a flexible approach to defining the off site carbon abatement measures (allowable solutions) which can be supported by house builders to meet their zero carbon obligation and not apply restrictions which would rule out innovative, cost effective approaches. The Government’s consultation on “Next Steps to Zero Carbon – Allowable Solutions” set out examples of potential measures which could be supported, including renewable energy measures. The Government has not considered support for carbon capture and storage or nuclear power in the context of allowable solutions. However, the criteria based approach set out in the consultation for identifying appropriate carbon abatement measures would require that measures will need to bring forward additional, verifiable carbon savings at a cost effective price. Given carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power, would have high upfront costs, they would be unlikely to be cost-effective.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the potential merits of retaining brownfield enclaves within urban areas as greenspaces for local amenity rather than being used for in-fill building.
Answered by Nick Boles
The National Planning Policy Framework recognises that access to high quality open spaces can make an important contribution to the health and well-being of communities. At the local level, planning policies should be based on assessments of need for open space, sports and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision. The Framework also enables local communities, through the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans, to identify for special protection green or open areas of particular importance to them as Local Green Space. This includes land in urban areas.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received on requiring car-parking areas around large retail developments to retrofit sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS); and what assessment he has made of the benefits for urban flood control of such retrofitting of SUDS.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I have been asked to reply.
We know of no such representations. The National Planning Policy Framework prioritises the use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in developments where possible. Defra officials have met representatives from leading supermarkets to discuss the use of SuDS and their benefits in retail developments. Case studies assessing the benefits of SuDS on commercial developments are available on the Defra funded SusDrain website at: www.susdrain.org.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote the enhancement of urban (a) green infrastructure and (b) waterways.
Answered by Nick Boles
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should plan positively for the creation, protection, enhancement and management of green infrastructure. This is supported by the recently published planning guidance which includes guidance on green infrastructure.
The maintenance and promotion of inland waterways is a matter for navigation authorities rather than Government. However, Government provides grant in aid funding to the two largest navigation authorities in England and Wales – the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
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 recommendations in the report commissioned by the EU Committee of the Regions on Policy instruments for adaptation to climate change in big European cities and metropolitan areas.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I have been asked to reply.
We have noted the report's recommendations and recognise the complex challenges cities face from climate change.
Defra published the first National Adaptation Programme (NAP) report last July. This sets out a wide range of actions to developthe UK's resilience to climate change and associated severe weather events. In developing this report, the Government worked with the Core Cities Group (comprising the largest eight cities in England), London Councils and the Greater London Authority to agree the NAP Cities Commitment. We continue to work closely with these cities to support this commitment to action, including through a recent inward secondment to Defra from Newcastle City Council.
The Mayors Adapt initiative recently launched by the European Commission under the EU Adaptation Strategy also provides a vehicle through which cities across Europe can network and share their experiences on adaptation.