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1 July 2010 : Column 628W—continued
New Businesses: Barnsley
Michael Dugher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new businesses were started in (a) Barnsley East constituency and (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley during 2009-10. [5146]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many new businesses were started in (a) Barnsley East constituency and (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley during 2009-10. [5146]
Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival arc available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
Data are only available for 2008 and are for the ward areas that cover the new constituency of East Barnsley.
| Count of enterprise births for 2008 in Barnsley East parliamentary constituency and Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley | |
| Number | |
Communities and Local Government
Community Infrastructure Levy
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for the future of the Community Infrastructure Levy. [5565]
Greg Clark: The Government are currently considering the future of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). We will make a public announcement shortly.
Fire Services: Retirement
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on raising the retirement age for firefighters. [5707]
Robert Neill: There is no compulsory retirement age for firefighters and age discrimination legislation applies to the fire and rescue service.
Housing: Construction
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to reward councils for allowing housing developments by changing the distribution of the Revenue Grant; and if he will make a statement. [5221]
Grant Shapps: We are committed to increasing housing supply and seeing more of the homes that people want, in the places that people want them, to meet Britain's housing need. The coalition agreement set out our clear intention to provide incentives for local authorities to deliver sustainable development, including new homes and business. I will set out further details of the timetable for introducing incentives in due course.
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to issue new planning guidance to councils to encourage housing development. [5223]
Robert Neill: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the leader of each local authority in England on 27 May to reaffirm our commitment to abolish Regional Strategies and return decision making powers on housing and planning to local councils. Decisions on housing supply will rest with local planning authorities without the framework of regional numbers and plans.
The coalition agreement makes a clear commitment to providing local authorities with real incentives to build new homes. Local authorities that take action now to consent to and support the construction of new homes will receive direct benefit from their actions.
Our coalition agreement also states that we will publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning framework covering all forms of development.
We will make an announcement on how we propose to take forward our incentive plans and the national planning framework and the implications for specific areas of planning policy.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department is providing to people who wish to build their own houses; and if he will make a statement. [5283]
Greg Clark: Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PPS3) provides planning guidance on the development of housing. PPS3 applies to all types of developers, including people who wish to build their own homes.
We have committed, in the Coalition Government document "The Coalition: our programme for government", to publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning framework covering all forms of development and work is proceeding on this within my Department.
Housing: East of England
Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what figures (a) Suffolk Coastal District Council and (b) Waveney District Council submitted to his Department for the formulation of option 1 of the East of England housing strategy. [5129]
Robert Neill: The equivalent to option 1 is the draft East of England Plan Review, published in January 2010, which suggests targets of 290 dwellings a year for Waveney and 440 dwellings a year for Suffolk Coastal, excluding the Ipswich Policy Area.
I would stress that local planning authorities are best placed to determine how to meet their ambitions for housing. They may retain the housing targets set out in the soon to be revoked Regional Strategies or they may decide to review these.
Local Government Finance
Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 15-17WS, on the local government savings pledge, if he will (a) undertake and (b) publish an impact assessment of the effect of the in-year reductions to grant funding to local authorities on (i) businesses, (ii) levels of growth and (iii) levels of employment in (A) Nottingham, (B) Nottinghamshire and (C) the East Midlands. [4269]
Robert Neill: Tackling the UK's record deficit is the Government's top priority and we believe that it is right that local authorities make a contribution to the efficiency savings of £6.2 billion in 2010-11. We have adopted a fair approach to the reductions in grants and funding streams and have limited the amount councils, including those in the East Midlands, lose. The impact on their area of the reductions in grants this year will be for those local authorities to decide. We have ensured that councils, including those in the East Midlands, are able to deliver essential frontline services by making no changes to the £29 billion they receive through Formula Grant and by increasing flexibility for local spending decisions through removing restrictions on how they spend their money.
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he proposes to inform (a) Sheffield City Council and (b) other local authorities of their in-year reductions in grants from his Department. [5282]
Robert Neill:
The reduction in grants for individual local authorities for which final allocations had been announced is set out in the document made available to the House at the time of the written ministerial statement of 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 15-17WS.
The document sets out the main revenue allocations paid to each local authority including formula grant and area based grant.
Further to the ministerial statement, my Department wrote to all local authority chief executives, on the same date, providing specific details of the reductions of grants as they affect individual local authorities.
Local Government Finance: North East
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 15-17WS, on the local government savings package, if he will (a) commission and (b) publish an assessment of the effects on (i) businesses, (ii) economic growth and (iii) employment levels in the North East of the in-year reductions in grant funding to local authorities. [4539]
Robert Neill: Tackling the UK's record deficit is the Government's top priority and we believe that it is right that local authorities make a contribution to the efficiency savings of £6.2 billion in 2010-11. We have adopted a fair approach to the reductions in grants and funding streams and have limited the amount councils, including those in the North East, will lose. The impact on their area of the reductions in grants this year will be for those local authorities to decide. We have ensured that councils, including those in the North East, are able to deliver essential frontline services by making no changes to the £29 billion they receive through Formula Grant and by increasing flexibility for local spending decisions through removing restrictions on how they spend their money.
Official Hospitality: Expenditure
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on catering in each year from 1997 to 2009. [4852]
Robert Neill: The Department has spent the following with its facilities management supplier on catering since 2006. Figures for earlier years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | |
Planning
Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make revisions to Planning Policy Guidance 3 to allow for the revocation of planning consents previously granted. [5297]
Robert Neill:
Local planning authorities already have powers to revoke or modify planning permissions, but use them rarely and exceptionally. Local authorities are liable for compensation to applicants for abortive expenditure and any other loss or damage resulting
from such action. A key tenet of the planning system is that once planning permission has been granted the applicant should be able to proceed with certainty.
Regional Planning and Development
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects his review of successor arrangements to regional development agencies to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [5058]
Robert Neill: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills issued a joint statement to the House on 29 June 2010, Official Report, column 34WS, in which they called for local councils and businesses to send proposals to Government on how they would like to form local enterprise partnerships to replace the regional development agencies. Further details will be published in the Government White Paper on economic development later this summer.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to announce the replacement of the regional spatial strategy system of planning; and if he will make a statement. [5284]
Robert Neill: We are absolutely committed to abolishing regional strategies. We are keen to move in advance of legislation and are currently considering revoking regional strategies ahead of taking legislation through Parliament. We will make a statement shortly.
Social Rented Housing
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to ensure (a) local authority and (b) private sector tenants have greater security of tenure. [4797]
Andrew Stunell: As the Minister for Housing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) said in this House on 10 June 2010, Official Report, column 451, we will respect the tenures of social tenants. The vast majority of social tenants have a very secure degree of tenancy.
We believe that the existing legislative framework covering the private rented sector achieves the right balance between the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. In the past, excessive regulation of the sector led to a severe contraction as landlords sold up and left. Particularly in the current financial climate, we would not want to make changes that would discourage growth in the sector and risk rising private sector rents and reduced choice for tenants. That would not help low income households that rely on private renting for their homes.
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to review security of tenure for social tenants. [5224]
Andrew Stunell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Housing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 10 June, Official Report, column 451.
Tenant Services Authority
Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable he has set for the abolition of the Tenant Services Authority. [5680]
Grant Shapps: The Government are reviewing the role and purpose of the Tenant Services Authority and the framework for social housing regulation, in line with our commitment to reduce the number of quangos and cut unnecessary regulation. The review will conclude as quickly as possible.
Deputy Prime Minister
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authority had the lowest percentage (a) increase and (b) decrease in the number of people on its electoral register in the last two years. [4363]
Mr Harper: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking which local authority had the lowest percentage (a) increase and (b) decrease in the number of people on its electoral register in the last two years (4363).
The local authority with the lowest percentage increase in the number of people registered to vote in local elections from 2007 to 2009 is Hartlepool Unitary Authority, with an increase of 0.33 persons per 1,000 voters.
The local authority with the lowest percentage decrease in the number of people registered to vote in local elections from 2007 to 2009 is Cardiff Unitary Authority, which decreased by 0.18 persons per 1,000 voters.
The latest year for which electoral registration data are available is 2009. These changes have been expressed as increases or decreases per 1,000 people because the numbers involved are too small to helpfully express as percentages.
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