Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many permanent Traveller sites have been created since May 2010.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In July 2014, the most recent month for which a figure is available, there were an estimated 9,313 private caravans on authorised sites with permanent planning permission in England. This compares with an estimated 7,182 private caravans on authorised sites with permanent planning permission in England in July 2011. This is the earliest month for which a national figure is available.
National and local authority data on the number of private caravans on authorised sites with permanent planning permission in England are published and are available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/traveller-caravan-count
The total number of caravans on authorised sites has risen from 14,498 in July 2010 to 16,771 in July 2014.
This shows our locally-led approach is working, with the abolition of top-down regional targets, the revocation of politically correct planning guidance, increased protection of the Green Belt and new powers for councils to tackle unauthorised sites.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to develop inclusive practices and community cohesion guidance with respect to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government's approach to integration is set out in "Creating the conditions for integration", published in February 2012. Instead of large scale, centrally led and funded programmes our approach is to enable civil society and local areas to take action on integration issues that are important to them. We have moved away from a focus on single issues and specific groups, but we nonethless recognise that Gypsies and Travellers experience inequalites in a number of important areas. The Ministerial Working Group on Reducing Inequalities Experienced by Gypsies and Travellers published a progress report in April 2012, which made 28 commitments from across Government on reducing inequalities in these communities. We are currently reviewing progress on those commitments and will publish a further report in due course.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of people in private rented accommodation are (a) white British and (b) from any other ethnic group.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
According to the English Housing Survey in 2012-13 in England, 72% of households in the private rented sector were white British and 28% of households in the private rented sector were from any other ethnic group.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of (a) his Department's staff and (b) staff working for companies contracted by his Department who are paid less than the Living Wage are (i) white British and (ii) from an ethnic minority background.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not currently employ any staff earning less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of (a) his Department's staff and (b) staff working for companies contracted by his Department are paid less than the Living Wage.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not currently employ any staff earning less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of (a) his Department's staff and (b) staff working for companies contracted by his Department who are paid less than the Living Wage are (i) women and (ii) men.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not currently employ any staff earning less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
It is not possible to provide definitive or meaningful percentages, as (a) not all staff declare their ethnicity, (b) due to the manner in which white ethnicity data is self-reported by staff , and (c) the sample sizes are so small as to be statistically misleading when comparing years.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
It is not possible to provide definitive or meaningful percentages, as (a) not all staff declare their ethnicity, (b) due to the manner in which white ethnicity data is self-reported by staff , and (c) the sample sizes are so small as to be statistically misleading when comparing years.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Francis Maude) on 16 June, Official Report, Column 434W.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This Government procures on the basis of value for money. Departments and the Crown Commercial Service will ensure that social, economic and sustainability issues are considered in procurement projects and that specifications, terms and conditions and evaluation criteria are developed to ensure that the relevant issues are addressed as appropriate for the subject matter of the requirements.
As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 September 2013, Official Report, Column 33WS, on the Government response to the public sector equality duty review, there is clear evidence of equality and diversity policies going too far in the other direction, by imposing unreasonable and expensive burdens on organisations bidding for public sector contracts. The Government has committed to reducing procurement gold-plating by the public sector.