Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2021 to Question 75126 on UN Climate Conference 2021: Government, how many Ministers in his Department travelled to COP26 by airplane.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
No Ministers in this Department travelled to COP26 in Glasgow by airplane.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2022.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for the whole nation to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the Nazis, along with all other victims of Nazi persecution and victims of subsequent genocides. The Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) supports the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust who will be promoting a great many local events as well as a national commemoration which will take place as an on-line event on 27 January.
DLUHC will itself be organising an event to enable staff to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department took to mark Islamophobia Awareness Month 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Islamophobia awareness is vitally important. Our commitment to tackling the discrimination and intolerance in Muslim communities is consistent throughout the year, as every community should be able to practice their faith in freedom and security.
We already have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted. We have continued to show our commitment to this by supporting Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with over £4 million between 2017 and 2022 to monitor anti-Muslim hate crimes and support victims, as well as providing almost £5 million to protect and secure mosques and other places of worship through the Places of Worship Security Grant.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to protect (a) Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London and (b) other places of worship from closure.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Whilst I cannot comment specifically on Bevis Marks Synagogue, due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, the Government recognises the financial difficulties that many places of worship have faced in the last 19 months. To respond to the impact of Covid-19, we have available a package of support specifically for charities and businesses. Places of worship and faith groups that are also registered charities have been able to apply to a number of those schemes. This included the Government's £750 million package of support specifically for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE).
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure elected officials in local government can safely carry out their duties.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Violence and intimidation will not be tolerated and have no place in public life. Government is firmly committed to the safety and security of all of those in public life.
The Government updated the House on action being taken to tackle intimidation in public life in a recent WMS (UIN HCWS833). This includes introducing a new electoral sanction of intimidation against those who participate in elections. The Local Government Association also provides comprehensive guidance and advice for councillors on personal safety.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 implications for his policies of the findings of the Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto published by Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to question UIN 58764 on 25 October.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support his Department is providing to the UK’s coastal communities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to question UIN 58764 on 25 October.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support high street businesses in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The new Levelling Up Fund will directly support communities across the UK making available up to £4.8 billion through to 2024-25 for local infrastructure and capital programmes. For the first round of funding, at least 5% of total UK allocations will be in Wales with a focus on supporting town centre and high street regeneration.
The UK Community Renewal Fund is also prioritising applications that target the 100 places most in need across the UK. Through the Community Renewal Fund we are also looking to invest in places that demonstrate a good contribution to strategic fit and delivery/effectiveness. Newport Council has invited bids to come forward into the Fund from local partners.
We have received applications from Newport Council for both the Levelling Up Fund and Community Renewal Fund.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on his Department's rates of recycling of plastic, paper, metal and other products; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We continually review the waste generated on our estate and work with our commercial colleagues on circular economy principles to reduce the amount of waste that arrives on our sites. Where we can't avoid this we work with our suppliers to move any waste we generate up the waste hierarchy.
Further information on Greening Government Commitments can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/883779/ggc-annual-report-2018-2019.pdf
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department's energy usage in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Details of Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government energy usage for the periods 2018/19 and 2019/20 are published in Figure 10 of Sustainability Report on page 29 of the Departmental Annual Accounts and Report for 2019/20 (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-annual-reports-and-accounts).
Data for the period 2020/21 and the remainder of 2021 are not yet available