Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received on the compatibility of U-values and energy ratings for doors and their fire safety rating.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are not aware of any representations that have been made on this specific issue. We are in regular discussions with relevant industry bodies and consult widely before making any changes to ensure that the standards we set are achievable.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review legislation regarding energy efficiency standards for doors to address the potential conflict between energy efficiency and fire safety.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are currently undertaking technical reviews of both Part B (Fire safety) and Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations and are in regular discussions with relevant industry bodies. We consult widely before making any changes to ensure that the standards we set are achievable.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been referred to him due to non-determination by a local authority in each year since 2015, by local authority.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Since 1 January 2015 up until 30 June 2020, there were 3,918 s78 planning appeals and householder appeals where the appellant appealed to The Planning Inspectorate before the local planning authority had made a decision on the relevant planning application (non-determination). This represents approximately 4 per cent of all s78 planning appeals and householder appeals received in the same time period.
The attached table provides the number of appeals against each Local Planning Authority and the year the appeal was submitted
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when local authorities sent letters to businesses informing them how to apply for the Small Business Grants Fund, listed by each local authority; how many businesses eligible for that fund are in each local authority area; how many businesses responded to those letters with payment details by 17 April 2020; and how many businesses each local authority had paid a grant to by 21 April 2020.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Government has made £12.3 billion available under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. The funding is being delivered by local authorities and Government is working closely with them to ensure grant payments are made to businesses as soon as possible, whilst safeguarding public funds. Local authorities are contacting businesses directly to deliver these grants. We have encouraged businesses who believe they are eligible for a grant to check the arrangements in their area on their local authority website if they have yet to be contacted, and to contact their local authority where relevant.
As of 20 April, over 480,000 business premises have received grants, totalling over £6 billion. Please see a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the (a) lowest and (b) average car parking price in council owned car parks in town centres was in 2018-19 in each local authority area.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department does not collect this information. However, as part of our work to implement the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 and support local authority provision of off-street parking, we are working closely with both local government and private parking stakeholders to gather data and information to inform policy-making in this area.