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18743

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2013
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding was allocated from Homes and Community Agency to (a) develop new affordable housing and (b) bring empty homes back into use in Harrow in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow West
	tabling member printed	Mr Gareth Thomas
	uin	174351
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Thursday 7 November 2013]</em></p><p>The figures for affordable housing are as follows for the London Borough of Harrow area:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2008-09</p></td><td><p>£22 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>£45 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£26 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£15 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£13 million</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since April 2012, allocations from the Affordable Housing Programme have been overseen by the Greater London Authority rather than the Homes and Communities Agency. There have been no specific allocations on empty homes over this period.</p><p>As outlined to the hon. Member in the answer of 7 January 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 121W, I would note that the new Affordable Rent model now allows for more affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels of taxpayer capital subsidy and lever in more private investment.</p><p>As the National Audit Office has observed: “The Department selected the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “The Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of the social housing sector; introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012, HC465, pp.6-7).</p><p>I also note that the Mayor's proposed Housing Strategy states: “£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011-15” (Mayor of London, “The Revised London Housing Strategy”, December2011, p.35).</p><p>Across England, 170,000 affordable homes have been delivered so far since April 2010, and a total of £19.5 billion of public and private investment is being spent on affordable housing over the current Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

19992

	registered interest
	date	11/11/2013
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department has made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
	uin	175475
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>Role of the Department</em></p><p>Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.</p><p>Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.</p><p>Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.</p><p>Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.</p><p>In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 592W).</p><p><em>Spending data</em></p><p>The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department's current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Overseas Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£408,621</p></td><td><p>£19,847</p></td><td><p>£79,574</p></td><td><p>£508,042 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£56,304</p></td><td><p>£21,759</p></td><td><p>£27,798</p></td><td><p>£105,861</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£69,463</p></td><td><p>£21,204</p></td><td><p>£19,946</p></td><td><p>£110,613</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£78,474</p></td><td><p>£29,224</p></td><td><p>£21,911</p></td><td><p>£129,609</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>UK Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£621,028</p></td><td><p>£309,260</p></td><td><p>£174,888</p></td><td><p>£1,105,176 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£434,467</p></td><td><p>£199,563</p></td><td><p>£81,315</p></td><td><p>£715,345</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£980,307</p></td><td><p>£162,544</p></td><td><p>£71,913</p></td><td><p>£1,214,764</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£1,030,710</p></td><td><p>£166,149</p></td><td><p>£74,424</p></td><td><p>£1,271,283</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Explanatory notes:</p><p>- Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.</p><p>- The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.</p><p>- Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.</p><p>- For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p>- For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.</p><p>- Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.</p><p>Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers' from the abolition of regional government in England.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis grouped question UIN 176826 question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

25299

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2013
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Department in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence.
	tabling member constituency	Islwyn
	tabling member printed	Chris Evans
	uin	176826
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>Role of the Department</em></p><p>Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.</p><p>Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.</p><p>Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.</p><p>Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.</p><p>In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 592W).</p><p><em>Spending data</em></p><p>The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department's current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Overseas Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£408,621</p></td><td><p>£19,847</p></td><td><p>£79,574</p></td><td><p>£508,042 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£56,304</p></td><td><p>£21,759</p></td><td><p>£27,798</p></td><td><p>£105,861</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£69,463</p></td><td><p>£21,204</p></td><td><p>£19,946</p></td><td><p>£110,613</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£78,474</p></td><td><p>£29,224</p></td><td><p>£21,911</p></td><td><p>£129,609</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>UK Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£621,028</p></td><td><p>£309,260</p></td><td><p>£174,888</p></td><td><p>£1,105,176 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£434,467</p></td><td><p>£199,563</p></td><td><p>£81,315</p></td><td><p>£715,345</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£980,307</p></td><td><p>£162,544</p></td><td><p>£71,913</p></td><td><p>£1,214,764</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£1,030,710</p></td><td><p>£166,149</p></td><td><p>£74,424</p></td><td><p>£1,271,283</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Explanatory notes:</p><p>- Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.</p><p>- The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.</p><p>- Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.</p><p>- For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p>- For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.</p><p>- Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.</p><p>Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers' from the abolition of regional government in England.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis grouped question UIN 175475 question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	4040 label Biography information for Chris Evans

35983

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local planning authorities in (a) improving the viability of brownfield sites and (b) restarting stalled developments.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	185957
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>Kick-starting stalled developments</em></p><p>This Government has introduced a series of measures to support stalled house building. These include:</p><p>· The Get Britain Building investment fund, providing over £500 million of finance which has so far helped start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites (as of February 2014).</p><p>· The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promote economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships and the devolved administrations to fund local projects.</p><p>· The £474 million Local Infrastructure Fund investment fund is supporting the delivery of upfront infrastructure for locally-supported, large scale housing sites and commercial development; it also provides capacity funding and brokerage support to local authorities to help them progress major schemes through the planning process. Nearly 80,000 homes have been unlocked on fifteen different sites. A further thirteen schemes are currently being assessed for investment, which we believe have the potential to deliver nearly 40,000 homes.</p><p>· The Autumn Statement committed an additional £1 billion of Local Infrastructure Fund funding to unlock locally-led housing schemes capable of delivering up to a further 250,000 new homes, and a second round prospectus will be published in due course.</p><p>· The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 enables developers with any Section 106 agreement to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unviable Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.</p><p>· As the housing market has improved, we have ended the temporary measure (introduced by the last Administration) which allowed developers to roll forward their planning permissions; this ending of the measure will increase the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.</p><p>· We are also seeking to tackle the inappropriate use of planning conditions and speed up the process of gaining non-planning consents.</p><p>· The Budget announced a £525 million Builders' Finance Fund to assist small and medium sized developers to access finance to support the delivery of housing schemes of between 15 and 250 units, helping kick-start stalled sites and deliver around 15,000 units over four years.</p><p><em>Supporting development on brownfield land</em></p><p>Freeing up brownfield land for regeneration and development is a key priority for my department. Our actions include:</p><p>· We have amended planning regulations to make it easier to change the use of an existing building from commercial to residential use, retail to residential use and agricultural to residential use. Permitted development rights have been expanded, including for flats above shops and allowing for new temporary uses. The Budget announced our intention to further extend these flexibilities.</p><p>· The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning should encourage the effective use of land by re-using brownfield land provided that it is not of high environmental value, and that local councils can set locally appropriate targets for using brownfield land. We have also amended planning practice guidance to stress the importance of bringing brownfield land into use.</p><p>· We have abolished the last Government's Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes and instead we have focused on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use. We are investing £160 million specifically to bring empty homes back into use. The New Homes Bonus rewards long-term empty homes being brought back into use and we have given councils the flexibility to remove tax subsidies given to empty homes, and use the money to keep the overall rate of council tax down. The number of empty homes in England has fallen to its lowest rate ever according to the Empty Homes Agency.</p><p>· My Department has been supporting the Olympic legacy, driving renewal and regeneration in east London, replacing over 740 acres of polluted, low-grade industrial land and premises with new sports and community facilities, parks, homes, shops and transport infrastructure.</p><p>· We are working with the Mayor of London to unlock the construction of 11,000 new homes at Barking Riverside, and extend transport infrastructure.</p><p>· A new garden city will be delivered on brownfield land in Ebbsfleet, supported by an Urban Development Corporation and up to £200 million of public investment. The last Administration pledged in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan to regenerate Ebbsfleet but failed to deliver.</p><p>· The new Right to Contest builds on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new Right applies to sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations. It gives businesses and members of the public an opportunity to challenge government on the best use of its estate.</p><p>· We have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers' money and providing land for new homes. As at the end of December we had released surplus government owned land with capacity for 68,000 homes to be built. We have strengthened the role of the Homes and Communities Agency through a targeted programme of transfers from other Government Departments and agencies. In addition, to ensure land is released efficiently, the Homes and Communities Agency will be Government's land disposal agency. This builds on the Homes and Communities Agency's expertise and experience of complex land remediation and disposals as well as their close relationships with local planning authorities.</p><p>· Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes – creating opportunities for housing and economic development.</p><p>· Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy rules now provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, and extended exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into. We have recently published a consultation paper to lift Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.</p><p>· The Budget announced an Estate Regeneration fund which will provide £150 million to help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of housing estates.</p><p>I hope this outlines the decisive action that this Government is taking.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

41162

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 694W, on polling stations, what assessment he has made of the effect of foreign language translation by local authorities on integration of non-English speakers into their communities.
	tabling member constituency	Bromley and Chislehurst
	tabling member printed	Robert Neill
	uin	190554
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>In March 2013, my Department published new guidance for local authorities outlining how councils should stop translating into foreign languages. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 5WS, such translation weakens integration; discourages communities from learning English; undermines rather than strengthens equality goals; harms community relations; and is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money at a time when councils need to be making sensible savings. It is disappointing that councils like Tower Hamlets have disregarded that guidance, and reflects broader issues with the dysfunctional governance and divisive practices of the council.</p><p>I would add that in light of previous instances of electoral fraud, including impersonation in polling stations, postal voting irregularities and allegations of improper influence, Ministers in this Department have concerns about the practice of allowing foreign language translators/interpreters inside polling stations. The privacy of the ballot must be protected and voters inside a polling station should not be subject to any pressure or influence to vote in a particular way. In that context, the integrity of the ballot box and of the local democratic process requires independent and transparent scrutiny in polling stations by polling agents, council staff, the police and, indeed, passing members of the public who are also voting. This is undermined by polling room administration being conducted in foreign languages.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	1601 label Biography information for Sir Robert Neill

41445

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on devolution of Homes and Communities Agency assets to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
	tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
	uin	190614
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>In disposing of its assets the Homes and Communities Agency is guided by value for money principles; disposals are expected to be at market value for land and other assets in order to protect public investment. The Homes and Communities Agency are open to considering proposals for joint working that will promote development, economic activity and growth.</p><p>These assets were bought by the national taxpayer and therefore the receipts are deployed nationally. Receipts are reinvested to help finance other Government housing and regeneration programmes, as well as fund a range of historic legal commitments and liabilities on land inherited by the Homes and Communities Agency from other bodies (including the liabilities left by the former Regional Development Agencies).</p><p>I would add that neither combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships have responsibility for housing; we should avoid ‘function creep' which would dilute their focus and/or centralise and take power away from local councils (both as local housing authorities and as local planning authorities).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

42384

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of London households in temporary accommodation were in (a) private sector leased properties, (b) hotels, (c) bed and breakfast, (d) local authority registered social landlord property and (e) other accommodation (i) at the most recent date for which figures are available and (ii) at 31 March 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	191531
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]</em></p><p>To assist public scrutiny, I have placed in the Library of the House, a table which provides quarterly figures for the last ten years.</p><p>Over that period, the numbers of households in temporary accommodation in London in this Government is far lower than averaged under the last Administration. The peak of 63,800 households in December 2005 compares to 42,430 in December 2013.</p><p>Councils have a responsibility to move homeless households into settled accommodation as quickly as possible and we made common sense changes to the law to enable them to use suitable private rented homes. The average stay in temporary accommodation in England has been reduced from 20 months at the beginning of 2010 to 14 months now, which means that people on average are spending far less time in such temporary accommodation.</p><p>We have also seen a 42% reduction in the numbers of families with children in Bed and Breakfast for more than six weeks on this time last year across the country. The seven local authorities that my Department has funded to tackle families in Bed and Breakfast have made significant progress, achieving an overall reduction of 96% since the funding began.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

43021

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and (ii) Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	192143
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p>The table below shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td><p><em>Council</em></p></td><td><p><em>Calendar Year</em></p></td><td><p><em>Allowed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Split</em></p></td><td><p><em>Dismissed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Stockport</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Tameside</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Whilst the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the absolute number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

43348

	registered interest
	date	17/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many planning appeals resulted in local authority decisions being overturned by the planning inspector in South Staffordshire in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.
	tabling member constituency	South Staffordshire
	tabling member printed	Gavin Williamson
	uin	192251
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p>The table below shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year for South Staffordshire District Council. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td><p><em>Calendar Year</em></p></td><td><p><em>Allowed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Split</em></p></td><td><p><em>Dismissed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>37</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>53</p></td><td><p>81</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>53</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>52</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Whilst the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson

44526

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps are being taken to ensure that the legal costs accrued over the closure of the Traveller site in Fylde are recovered from the travellers.
	tabling member constituency	Fylde
	tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
	uin	193259
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Secretary of State to dismiss the planning appeal and uphold the enforcement notice in relation to an unauthorised traveller site at Fairfield Road, Hardhorn.</p><p>My Department seeks to recover the costs of litigation from the other parties where this is appropriate, and I can confirm that we will be seeking to do so in this case.</p><p>Flyde Borough Council may also seek to do the same through due legal process; however, this is a matter for the council rather than my Department.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies