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1205607

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will allocate funding to the provision of empty hotel rooms to house people fleeing domestic abuse during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	61811
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>On 5 June my Department announced the allocation of £8.15 million funding to 147 refuge charities through 103 successful bids as part of the £10 million MHCLG Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund. This funding will re-open bedspaces which are currently closed due to COVID-19, as well as creating 1210 more bedspaces to support more victims of domestic abuse. The remaining £1.85 million of the Fund has been reopened for applications. This will enable refuge charities to continue to respond during the crisis.</p><p>My Department have also put in place a system to enable local authorities who need additional accommodation to meet demand during the pandemic to book rooms for domestic abuse victims through Crown Commercial Services.</p><p>An additional £3.2 billion has been provided to support councils in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, including supporting vulnerable people.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 24/06/2020 09:22:20 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1205682

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Reopening High Streets Safely Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2020 to Question 59479, on Reopening High Streets Safely Fund, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the criteria of the Re-opening High Streets Safely Fund with the Equality Act 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Steve Reed
	uin	61715
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>The public sector equality duty is complied with at programme level for the European Regional Development Fund in England. This compliance applies to all projects funded by the programme, including the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund (RHSSF). Local authorities will be subject to that duty in delivering this additional targeted funding. The RHSSF is targeted at specific ERDF programme priorities, and is not designed to fund all of the activities covered by the Safer Public Places guidance published on 13 May.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke question first answered 24/06/2020 16:58:30 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke previous answer version 31754 answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1205665

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Business and Tourism: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the ability of the (a) pubs and hotels, (b) manufacturing companies with a rateable value under £15,000 (c) larger visitor economy businesses with a rateable value of above £51,000 unable to access government covid-19 grant schemes to survive post covid-19.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	61768
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government has announced a package of support for business to help with their ongoing costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This includes £12.33 billion to local authorities in England to support businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. As at 14 June, £10.36 billion has been paid out to over 844,000 business properties across the two schemes.</p><p>We do not hold data from local authorities broken down by sector. We have, however, published a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcoronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses&amp;data=02%7C01%7CHazel.Rimmer%40communities.gov.uk%7Ca44b6eaad31f4204ec5408d816a33600%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637284237521735122&amp;sdata=vdjgTzjAWmgiLL9VY8KxjGXetKwFxzvj4q7kDrjf59E%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses</a></p><p>On 1 May, Government announced a further £617 million available, in the form of the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, for local authorities to support small businesses that are not eligible for business rates or rates relief and are therefore not in scope of the existing grant schemes. Local authorities are responsible for defining precise eligibility for this scheme, and have discretion to pay grants to businesses based on local economic need – within the national guidance: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcoronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding&amp;data=02%7C01%7CHazel.Rimmer%40communities.gov.uk%7Ca44b6eaad31f4204ec5408d816a33600%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637284237521745117&amp;sdata=83%2FCtWu79GHkpgkZXFn9VFQW1LJyFYNqKAtW7DiD2c0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding</a></p><p>Local authorities will need to manage their schemes effectively to stay within their Discretionary Grants Fund allocation, and there are no plans to change the scope of this scheme. However, as with other business support measures, Ministers continue to keep the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund under review, monitoring roll-out and level of demand to see where any additional support could be offered to help businesses and support local economies.</p><p>Businesses which are not eligible for the grants schemes should be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including:</p><ul><li>An option to defer VAT payments by up to twelve months;</li><li>The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, now extended to cover all businesses including those which would be able to access commercial credit;</li><li>The Bounce Back Loan scheme, which will ensure that small and micro businesses can quickly access loans of up to £50,000 which are 100% guaranteed by the Government;</li><li>The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, to support businesses with their wage bills;</li><li>The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, to provide support to the self-employed.</li></ul><p>Further information on other business support measures can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support</a></p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke question first answered 29/06/2020 11:51:22 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1205724

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Business Improvement Districts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Act 2003, if he will take steps to enable local authorities to (a) waive, (b) cancel and (c) discount levies in relation to Business Improvement Districts.
	tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
	tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
	uin	61673
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have a significant role to play in high street regeneration and will be even more important in the recovery from the current crisis.</p><p>That is why Government has introduced up to £6.1 million in funding. The funding is intended to cover the equivalent of three months’ of core operational costs and is based on a fair percentage of a BID's levy income from each BID’s operating year ending in 2019/20.</p><p>My department undertook a light-touch information gathering exercise to collect information needed from local authorities to prepare and process the section 31 grants. Following this information gathering exercise, the first batch of grant payments to 70 local authorities were paid out early in the week commencing 2 June. Other batches will follow shortly.</p><p>All local authorities who have submitted information to us by the initial deadline of 15 May should receive funding this month. We will provide funding to others as soon as possible.</p><p>We have encouraged local authorities to be pragmatic in the collection of BID levies while acknowledging that they have a statutory obligation to issue the BID levy invoices. The BIDs support funding will enable authorities to take a more flexible approach to the collection of BID levies at this difficult time for many businesses.</p><p>This funding is in addition to passing legislation which enables BIDs to extend the maximum duration of their BID arrangements until 31 March 2021. This allows businesses to focus on recovery from economic shock before deciding whether to participate in BID arrangements for the following 5-year period, and allows BIDs to coordinate their places’ recovery</p><p>We will continue to work closely with the sector to look at how further we can support BIDs, and the businesses that contribute to them, during this time.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61672 question first answered 24/06/2020 16:58:52 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1205723

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Business Improvement Districts: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities acting as billing authorities in Business Improvement Districts that wish to (a) suspend, (b) alter and (c) reduce that levy during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
	tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
	uin	61672
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have a significant role to play in high street regeneration and will be even more important in the recovery from the current crisis.</p><p>That is why Government has introduced up to £6.1 million in funding. The funding is intended to cover the equivalent of three months’ of core operational costs and is based on a fair percentage of a BID's levy income from each BID’s operating year ending in 2019/20.</p><p>My department undertook a light-touch information gathering exercise to collect information needed from local authorities to prepare and process the section 31 grants. Following this information gathering exercise, the first batch of grant payments to 70 local authorities were paid out early in the week commencing 2 June. Other batches will follow shortly.</p><p>All local authorities who have submitted information to us by the initial deadline of 15 May should receive funding this month. We will provide funding to others as soon as possible.</p><p>We have encouraged local authorities to be pragmatic in the collection of BID levies while acknowledging that they have a statutory obligation to issue the BID levy invoices. The BIDs support funding will enable authorities to take a more flexible approach to the collection of BID levies at this difficult time for many businesses.</p><p>This funding is in addition to passing legislation which enables BIDs to extend the maximum duration of their BID arrangements until 31 March 2021. This allows businesses to focus on recovery from economic shock before deciding whether to participate in BID arrangements for the following 5-year period, and allows BIDs to coordinate their places’ recovery</p><p>We will continue to work closely with the sector to look at how further we can support BIDs, and the businesses that contribute to them, during this time.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61673 question first answered 24/06/2020 16:58:52 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke previous answer version 31753 answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1205661

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of co-terminosity of local service provision; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	North Dorset
	tabling member printed	Simon Hoare
	uin	61745
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Devolution White Paper will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country, including what this means for the geography of local institutions and local service providers.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke question first answered 29/06/2020 11:51:46 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4494 label Biography information for Simon Hoare

1205655

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Unitary Councils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what process needs to be followed by local authority areas which would like to achieve unitary status.
	tabling member constituency	North Dorset
	tabling member printed	Simon Hoare
	uin	61741
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61742 61743 61744 question first answered 29/06/2020 11:52:42 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4494 label Biography information for Simon Hoare

1205658

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Unitary Councils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department will use to assess bids to establish a unitary authority; and whether unanimity of affected local authorities is required.
	tabling member constituency	North Dorset
	tabling member printed	Simon Hoare
	uin	61742
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61741 61743 61744 question first answered 29/06/2020 11:52:42 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4494 label Biography information for Simon Hoare

1205659

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Unitary Councils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the minimum population size required is to form a unitary authority.
	tabling member constituency	North Dorset
	tabling member printed	Simon Hoare
	uin	61743
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61741 61742 61744 question first answered 29/06/2020 11:52:42 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4494 label Biography information for Simon Hoare

1205660

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Unitary Councils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the maximum population size is in which a single unitary authority should operate.
	tabling member constituency	North Dorset
	tabling member printed	Simon Hoare
	uin	61744
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 61741 61742 61743 question first answered 29/06/2020 11:52:42 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4494 label Biography information for Simon Hoare