Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how his Department will work with the maritime sector to refocus the Investment Zones programme.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Investment Zones are being refocused to catalyse a number of the highest potential knowledge intensive growth clusters to boost productivity, growth and job creation. These will be based around the Chancellor's five priority sectors.
We will work closely with Mayors, the Devolved Administrations, local authorities, businesses, and other local partners.
I recently met with Maritime UK, and look forward to further engagement as this policy develops.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to set out more detail on his Department’s proposals for supporting knowledge-intensive clusters to drive economic growth, as announced in the Autumn statement.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Investment Zones are being refocused to catalyse a number of the highest potential knowledge intensive growth clusters to boost productivity, growth and job creation. These will be based around the Chancellor's five priority sectors.
We will work closely with Mayors, the Devolved Administrations, local authorities, businesses, and other local partners.
I recently met with Maritime UK, and look forward to further engagement as this policy develops.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he will meet with Maritime UK to discuss the recommendations in the Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto on planning reform.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Investment Zones are being refocused to catalyse a number of the highest potential knowledge intensive growth clusters to boost productivity, growth and job creation. These will be based around the Chancellor's five priority sectors.
We will work closely with Mayors, the Devolved Administrations, local authorities, businesses, and other local partners.
I recently met with Maritime UK, and look forward to further engagement as this policy develops.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if it is his policy to bring forward reforms to leasehold in this Parliament.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 75940, on 9 November 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make provision for students in the private rented sector to continue to rent on a fixed-term basis that covers their academic year, as part of the proposed renters reform bill.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We expect most students will continue to move in-line with the academic year. However, the proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to. It will also mean that students are not locked into contracts when their circumstances change or if property standards are poor.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish details of how permitted development rights will be expanded within freeport zones.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Alongside the rest of the freeports package, in 2021, the government amended existing permitted development rights for ports so that they have the same freedoms as airports. This amendment related to all ports and the government has not proposed new or changed permitted development rights for Freeports specifically.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether freeport zones will be subject to an environmental impact assessment.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Existing environmental regulations continue to apply in Freeports, including the requirement for consideration of environmental impacts comprising, where appropriate, a full Environmental Impact Assessment, as part of planning processes.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of freeport zones on (a) national parks and (b) Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
National parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty within Freeport outer boundaries will not be negatively impacted by Freeport policy. Freeports are at the core of our Levelling Up Agenda and, by delivering investment on specific sites which benefit from tax and customs benefits, identified for their suitability, Freeports will create thousands of high-quality jobs in some of our most deprived communities.
Those sites sit within an outer boundary, which sets the limit for how far apart they can be and indicates the area that is expected to benefit most directly from the Freeport's economic impacts. While the Outer Boundary intersects with some, this does not mean that the entire area has been earmarked for development or that it has special planning. Moreover, local authorities remain responsible for providing planning permission for any development within the Freeport area and Freeport status does not in any way undercut the local planning process.
Decisions about the locations of Freeports were taken carefully, through a competitive process detailed in the Freeports Bidding Prospectus , and since then the Government has been working collaboratively with local partners to help them develop and finalise their plans, ensuring that these deliver the best outcomes for the area, wider region, and UK as a whole.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of supporting local authorities to improve (a) work placement and (b) employment (i) practices and (ii) opportunities for people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Paul Scully
Local authorities are independent, democratic bodies who have the freedom and flexibility to manage their own employment matters. They are best placed to understand and make these decisions based on what their individual needs are. DLUHC ministers do not have any formal role in such matters
Through The Careers & Enterprise Company, the Department for Education (DfE) will continue to work with all local authorities to ensure that local priorities are fed into the provision of careers advice, so that it is employer-led, integrated, and meets local needs
Supported internships are a structured, work-based study programme for 16 to 24-year-olds with SEND, who have an education, health, and care plan (EHCP). DfE are investing up to £18 million in supported internships over the next three years, aiming to double the capacity of the supported internships programme to provide more young people with EHCPs with the skills they need to secure and sustain paid employment.’
DWP have strengthened the Disability Employment Adviser role, delivering direct support to claimants who require additional work related support and supporting all work coaches to deliver tailored, personalised support to claimants with a disability or health condition including those with a learning disability.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources of the Health and Safety Executive for its role as the building safety regulator.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Building Safety Regulator has already been established in shadow form in the Health and Safety Executive. We have provided, and will continue to provide, the Building Safety Regulator with the funding it needs to perform its functions effectively.
The Government and the Health and Safety Executive are developing detailed delivery plans to ensure the effective operation of the Building Safety Regulator as well as ensuring local authorities and Fire & Rescue Authorities are compensated for assistance that they will be expected to provide to the Building Safety Regulator.
The Building Safety Act enables the Building Safety Regulator to recover costs from regulated parties through charging fees. This reflects that developers already pay for building control. We intend that the Government will provide some additional funding where cost-recovery is not practicable.