Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, what progress the Government is making on each of the commitments it made at COP26, and whether it is on track to deliver all of them.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Delivery of the Glasgow Climate Pact is the top priority for the UK Presidency. The UK and Egypt recently convened Ministers in Copenhagen to discuss progress and heard strong commitment to deliver.
Since COP26, and following the call in the Glasgow Climate Pact, there have been 16 NDC submissions. A further eight National Adaptation Plans have been published, meaning 2 billion people are now covered by adaptation plans globally. We recently held the 5th Energy Transition Council Meeting where countries reinforced their commitment to implement tailored solutions to decarbonise their power sectors more rapidly. Over 180 countries, regions, cities, and businesses have now signed up to the Zero Emission Vehicles Declaration.
In total, six countries have endorsed the Agriculture Breakthrough, with Morocco and Sweden endorsing at Stockholm+50. On the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, where 145 countries committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, we are working closely with key signatories to establish a new annual meeting to drive the delivery of this goal.
We have continued the push to mobilise finance to support energy transition, including the announcement of progress on four new Just Energy Transition Partnerships at the G7 summit. We are working with international partners to meet the $100bn delivery plan for public finance and the doubling of adaptation finance by 2025.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the role of the (a) arts, (b) creative and (c) heritage sectors in achieving the levelling up agenda.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The arts, heritage, and creative sectors are at the centre of the government's Levelling Up agenda. By supporting and developing these sectors, we can rejuvenate and transform our communities across the country, creating jobs and boosting pride in place.
As a department, we have assessed that a number of DCMS programmes across these sectors are already playing a key role in achieving the Levelling Up agenda, and generating significant results.
For example, as part of the flagship Cultural Investment Fund, the £20 million first round of the Cultural Development Fund supports creative clusters in Plymouth, Wakefield, Worcester, Grimsby and the Thames Estuary. These projects - by their own forecasts - are expected to create over 1000 jobs, train 3000 people, support over 700 businesses and leverage £17.5 million of additional public/private investment. The £24 million Cultural Development Fund round 2 supports innovative cultural and creative projects in Barnsley, Berwick, Isle of Wight, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Stockport and Torbay.
Likewise, the £17.5 million Create Growth Programme (CGP) is similarly supporting and developing the creative sectors, providing six regions across England, outside London, with a bespoke package to support high-growth creative businesses. It builds on DCMS’s Creative Scale Up pilot, which to date has supported over 200 creative businesses across the Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West of England Combined Authorities. From an initial £4m investment, there was a total increase in turnover among participating businesses of £13.5 million.
The £95 million High Street Heritage Action Zones programme drives the regeneration of 67 towns and cities. Historic England will use historic buildings in developing people's pride in place and supporting the Levelling Up agenda. Across the first round, over 70 historic buildings have been restored through the initiative, as well as over 1000 public events being hosted on high streets, including community-led cultural and creative activities.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support is available for local communities to repurpose industrial heritage sites for the benefit of local economies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Our industrial towns and cities have a proud history, and we are determined that they will have a bright future. Through our levelling up funds, we are tackling the economic differences and driving prosperity across the UK.
Every part of the country will benefit from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund - including the hon. lady's constituency of Barnsley East, which will benefit from a share of £46,162,439.
Culture and heritage are key themes of our Levelling Up Fund, which provides an important boost to local economies through providing funding for maintaining, regenerating, or creatively repurposing existing cultural and heritage assets, or creating new assets that support the visitor economy.
Further funding opportunities are available through the Community Ownership Fund, which helps communities take ownership of cultural and heritage assets at risk of closure, ensuring that small, and much-loved assets are safeguarded and can continue to benefit the local economy.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of diesel buses on respiratory illnesses such as (1) COVID-19, and (2) asthma; and what plans they have, if any, to ban diesel buses from (a) town, and (b) city, centres.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
There is clear evidence to show that exposure to air pollution can exacerbate the effects of respiratory illnesses including asthma. Older buses, particularly those without emission abatement technology fitted, can be a significant source of emissions in some areas. National level estimates indicate that in 2019 buses contributed on average 8% of roadside NOx concentrations. However, no Government analysis has been carried out on the specific impact of buses in towns and cities on respiratory health.
Most buses in the current fleet are diesel and they form a key component of a sustainable transport package in towns and cities, with newer diesel buses emitting significantly lower levels of pollution than older models. Clean Air Zones (CAZ) are being implemented by local authorities in a number of areas where roads are exceeding legal limits for nitrogen dioxide, and all of these Zones will charge older buses to enter. Local authorities implementing CAZs have carried out local analysis to understand the key sources of pollution on their roads in order to identify the appropriate solution. In these and other local authorities engaged with the NO2 Plan, Government is supporting the upgrading of bus fleets to newer, cleaner standards either via replacement vehicles or grants to support the retrofit of older diesel buses with technologies to reduce emissions from their tailpipe.
The Government is also committed to supporting the introduction of 4,000 zero emission buses and achieving an all zero emission bus fleet. As set out in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 £355 million of new funding has been made available for zero emission buses. The Government has also committed to setting an end date for the sale of new diesel buses, further incentivising the adoption of zero emission buses.
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, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for the levelling-up White Paper of recommendations made in 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)
We appreciate Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group's detailed and insightful Coastal Powerhouse manifesto and we recognise the value of the recommendations made. We welcome the continuous engagement of the sector as we are progressing with our levelling up agenda. In this respect, we share the view expressed on the need to continue the strong partnership that exists between Government and key stakeholder groups.
Britain's maritime sector is inextricably linked to our island's rich history - to the exploration, free trade and global exchange which laid the foundations for modern Britain. Our maritime sector, our ports, harbours and coastal towns are extremely important to recovery from the pandemic.
As the Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto has highlighted, there are a number of areas where action must be taken to catalyse investment, level-up coastal communities and capitalise on the potential of the UK's coastal regions. That is why we are working with local leaders to ensure every region including coastal areas, cities and towns will recover from COVID-19 and ultimately level-up. The Government will publish a White Paper that builds on existing action being taken across Government, setting out a new policy regime that will drive change for years to come.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 support high streets to regenerate that have not benefited from Government funding to date.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Now more than ever, it is vital that we continue to help our local economies by supporting town centres and high streets to regenerate, adapt, evolve and thrive.
Government has already committed billions of pounds to support economic growth and regeneration for high streets, including £3.6 billion through the Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund. While some of this funding is already committed, there are further forthcoming opportunities for additional funding: we are taking further concrete steps towards levelling up through initiatives including the new £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, which will invest in infrastructure to improve everyday local life and boost growth and jobs, including through future rounds reaching more places. We will furthermore launch the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022, and in preparation we have already supported places with £220 million through the UK Community Renewal Fund. The £150 million Community Ownership Fund, administered over four years, will help communities purchase and refurbish assets at risk of closure. Facilities including sports halls, cinemas, theatres, parks and shops are all covered by the fund that will run until 2024/25 and have at least eight bidding rounds.
Beyond substantial funding offers, Government is providing support to local leadership with the High Streets Task Force. Over five years this is providing hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and to connect local areas to relevant experts. We were pleased to be able to announce the next 70 local authorities to receive bespoke expert support in March and delivery of this support has been taking place over 2021 and will continue into 2022. We will be announcing a further tranche of local authorities to receive in-person expert support from the Task Force in 2022.
In addition to this, the Build Back Better High Streets strategy published in July 2021 forms a key part of Government's plan to level up and will deliver visible changes to local areas and communities across England, transforming derelict buildings, supporting businesses, cleaning up our streets, improving the public realm in our towns and cities, and supporting a renewed sense of community and pride for current and future generations. This included ambitious planning reforms and encouraging the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders to address vacant property and supporting high street businesses by protecting commercial tenants from eviction and helping businesses adapt and respond to the changing high street.
To address adaptation and reinvention of our high streets, we also introduced more flexibility into the planning systems in September 2020, through a new Commercial, Business and Service use class (Class E) which allows uses within it to change between these uses without the need for a planning application. These reforms provide businesses with greater freedom to change between uses commonly found on the high street, enabling them to adjust more quickly, and with more planning certainty, to changing demands and circumstances. It allows premises to move between uses such as shops, restaurants, offices, gyms and health centres, or to provide a mix of such uses, including at different times of the day.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the forecast of passenger demand growth used in the preparation of the Integrated Rail Plan for (1) local, and (2) long, distance services; and what account have they taken of the changes in demand caused by COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government’s key assumption is that rail demand will continue to grow but passenger demand over the period between now and 2050 is inevitably uncertain. However, the Government agrees with the NIC that the pandemic is unlikely to put an end to the need to travel between our towns and cities over the longer term. Our adaptive approach towards the core network enables us to respond to any future uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the investments being considered here are long term, and typically take a decade or more to deliver.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the joint Maritime UK and Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group's Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto, published in September 2021.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We appreciate Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group's detailed and insightful Coastal Powerhouse manifesto and we recognise the value of the recommendations made. We welcome the continuous engagement of the sector as we are progressing with our levelling up agenda. In this respect, we share the view expressed on the need to continue the strong partnership that exists between Government and key stakeholder groups.
Britain's maritime sector is inextricably linked to our island's rich history - to the exploration, free trade and global exchange which laid the foundations for modern Britain. Our maritime sector, our ports, harbours and coastal towns are extremely important to recovery from the pandemic.
As the Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto has highlighted, there are a number of areas where action must be taken to catalyse investment, level-up coastal communities and capitalise on the potential of the UK's coastal regions. That is why we are working with local leaders to ensure every region including coastal areas, cities and towns will recover from COVID-19 and ultimately level-up. The Levelling Up White Paper will set out ambitious policies to improve living standards, increase opportunity, and grow the private sector in every part of the United Kingdom, from Aberdeen to Aylesbury, Belfast to Brecon.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are (a) set and (b) reach tree planting targets.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We recognise the importance of local authorities (LAs) in achieving the Government's tree planting targets and delivering the vision set out in the England Trees Action Plan (ETAP).
LAs are increasingly setting their own tree planting targets to support their own net zero ambitions. A recent Forestry Commission study of 82 top tier LAs revealed that 70% (57 LAs) have included 'planting trees and woodlands' as part of their net zero strategies.
Defra supports LAs' tree planting activity through several of the Nature for Climate Fund Grant schemes, such as the England Woodland Creation Offer, the Local Authorities Treescape Fund and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF). Whilst the latest round of applications for UTCF closed in July, over the next two years this fund will provide up to £6 million for planting around 44,000 large trees in towns and cities, plus necessary maintenance payments. We are also supporting the creation of two new Woodland Creation Partnerships in Cornwall and Northumberland, and two new Community Forests in Plymouth and South Devon and in the North East, working closely with the relevant LAs in those areas
To further support LAs that may have less capacity and capability to develop their own targets, we have committed in the ETAP to produce guidance for LAs to develop their own local tree and woodland strategies.
Finally, LAs are also expected to play a central part in the delivery of the new Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs), a new system of spatial strategies for nature, to be delivered through the Environment Bill, which will cover the whole of England. We anticipate that LNRSs will become a key mechanism through which appropriate land for woodland creation is identified at a local level which in turn will support the delivery of national tree planting targets.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
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 in the report published on 10 September 2021 by the Local Government Association, entitled A vision for urban growth and recovery, comparing the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on local and rural areas and the long-term fiscal security of urban communities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We appreciate the Local Government Association detailed and insightful ‘Vision for Urban Growth and Recovery’ report and we recognise the value of the recommendations made. We welcome the continuous engagement with the sector as we are progressing our levelling up agenda. In this respect, we share the view expressed on the need to continue the strong partnership that exists between Government and key stakeholder groups.
Britain’s cities are at the heart of our national economy, accounting for more than 60% of jobs, productivity and taxes, despite accounting for less than a tenth of land. As we look towards the new normal, cities and towns across the UK will continue to be powerhouses across the UK, driving economic growth and of crucial importance to the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The report highlights the significant and more pronounced impact of covid-19 on urban centres than non-urban centres. We recognise that the impacts of covid-19 have been significant on health, the economy and our society, but most keenly felt across our urban centres. The immediate focus of policy making in the last eighteen months has been to support individuals and businesses through the pandemic and to promote the quickest recovery and is therefore why our package of support for businesses through this period totals over £352billion, including through business grants, the coronavirus loan schemes and Job Retention Scheme.
In Government, we are keen to continue working with the Local Government Association and partners from right across the public and private sectors to deliver our levelling up agenda for our urban centres and beyond, and continue to welcome such insightful, relevant and comprehensive engagement.