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226595

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2015
	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
	hansard heading	Non-domestic Rates
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of small firms and shops likely to benefit from the planned reduction in business rates in (a) Herefordshire and (b) England in 2015-16.
	tabling member constituency	Hereford and South Herefordshire
	tabling member printed	Jesse Norman
	uin	908064
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2015 answer text <p>My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 400,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 200,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>increasing the temporary discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 from £1,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 200,000 properties in England; and</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>extending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000.</li></ul><p> </p><p>These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including:</p><p> </p><ul><li>a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>business rates relief for empty new builds; and</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>allowing businesses to pay their business rate bills over 12 months, in order to assist with their cash flow.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Central Government also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.</p><p>Table 1 (attached) shows the estimated number of properties in 2015-16 within the Herefordshire Council boundary that will benefit from business rates measures extended in this year’s autumn statement. Table 2 (attached) presents this information for England as a whole.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 16/03/2015 17:25:29 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 908064 Norman.docx title Table 1 - Business Rates
	tabling member	3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman

174684

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2015
	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
	hansard heading	Coastal Communities Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, persuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 906630, what the 117 projects funded by the Coastal Communities Fund are.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	221354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2015 answer text <p>A table (attached) has been placed in the Library of the House giving details of the 211 projects awarded grants under the Coastal Communities Fund to date. These include the 117 projects referred to in the Answer of 15 December 2014 and a further 94 projects which have been awarded grants from the Fund since then. The table covers all grants awarded in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 30/01/2015 17:16:04 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 221354 Ruane - Table of CCF Awards Rounds 1 to 3.xlsx title Table of CCF Projects
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

155751

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire and Rescue Services
	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) whole-time and (b) part-time firefighters there were in (i) Northamptonshire and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	214654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2015 answer text <p>The numbers of (a) whole-time and (b) retained duty system fire fighters in (i) Northamptonshire and (ii) England, as at the end of March in each of the last 10 years, are shown in the attached tables alongside the number of fire incidents attended:</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 23/03/2015 17:44:57 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 214654 Bone.docx title Table of Whole Time and RDS Firefighters previous answer version 29046 answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

78376

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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
	hansard heading	EU Grants and Loans
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, column 630W, on EU grants and loans, how much and what proportion of 2007 to 2013 European Regional Development Fund monies allocated to the UK with match-funding in place have been (a) contractually committed and (b) drawn down in (i) each English region and (ii) in total to date.
	tabling member constituency	Streatham
	tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
	uin	206317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2014 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the attached table (1). The “contractually committed” figures are up to 30 September 2014. All contractually committed funding has had match funding identified, so no separate figures are shown for this.</p><p>Across the programme, an average of 100% of the programme is now contractually committed. All spending of taxpayers’ money must ensure value for money; and money should not be spent on poor quality projects just for the sake of it. Spending must also comply with complex and bureaucratic EU rules, or else risk “financial corrections” down the line.</p><p>Where the contractually committed figure is slightly less than the total allocation, this reflects the restrictive, bureaucratic rules associated with the whole programme, and the lack of flexibility in the rules.</p><p>To place this in context, I attach with this answer a table (2) showing the allocations in the 2000-06 programme under the last Labour Government: only 93% of the allocation was ever committed, leaving £392 million of uncommitted resources; of which £48 million was uncommitted in the West Midlands Objective 2 area, £64 million uncommitted in the North West Objective 2 area, and £38 million uncommitted in the Yorkshire and the Humber Objective 2 area.</p><p>In this context, despite the complexities, the 2007-13 programme has been far better administered under this Government than the 2000-06 programme under the last Administration.</p><p>The European Regional Development Fund is a circular programme. UK taxpayers’ money is given to the European Union budget. Under the Fund, a local project receives a contract, spends money and then claims from DCLG. DCLG then claims funds back from the European Commission. The whole process goes through a complex auditing process involving DCLG auditors and then European Union auditors. After a period of time, the majority of unspent funding is returned to the UK Government by the European Commission. We continue to have concerns over the bureaucratic and time consuming nature of the processes involved in the programme, as a consequence of rules imposed by the European Commission.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 206317 Umunna - Table 1.docx title Table 1 2 file name 206317 Umunna - Table 2.pdf title Table 2 question first answered 26/11/2014 16:11:42 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

155752

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire Services: Northamptonshire
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what new (a) fire pumps and (b) other equipment is being provided for Northamptonshire Fire Service; what recent assessment he has made of the overall performance of that service; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	214655
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>Decisions on the provision of new fire pumps and other equipment are matters for the local fire and rescue authority. <br><br>However, Northamptonshire fire and rescue authority has successfully bid for £3.16 million from the £75 million Fire Transformation Fund to replace their current fire service incident command unit vehicle with a purpose built vehicle to be jointly crewed by police and fire staff. In addition, the funding will enable Northamptonshire to purchase joint rural response units. This funding will be made available in 2015-16.</p><p>Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their performance through the integrated risk management plan.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 20/11/2014 15:22:53 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

155753

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire Services: Conditions of Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of firefighters between the age of 55 and 60 will fail the fitness test in each of the next five years.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	214656
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>There are currently over 1,000 firefighters in the Service aged 55 or over, all of whom provide a valuable contribution to the fire service. The pension reforms protect those who are closest to their scheme’s Normal Pension Age and therefore no firefighter will need to work beyond their current scheme’s Normal Pension Age over the next five years. The Government commissioned report <em>Normal Pension Age for Firefighters</em> found that there was no reason why every firefighter who stayed physically active could not remain operational until age 60. The report can be found at <a href="http://www.clg.heywood.co.uk/node/658" target="_blank">http://www.clg.heywood.co.uk/node/658</a>. There is no single fitness standard in fire and rescue authorities and Dr Williams' assessment was based on current practices amongst fire and rescue authorities.<br><br>On 28 October I published a consultation to put the key fitness principles onto a statutory footing through the Fire National Framework. These proposals underpin the fitness and capability processes that exist within individual fire and rescue authorities and complement the work being undertaken by the joint fitness group facilitated by the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Peter Holland. These important initiatives will help reassure firefighters that they will be appropriately supported throughout their career.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 20/11/2014 15:55:35 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

155754

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire Services: Industrial Disputes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made in resolving the dispute with firefighters; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	214657
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>After extensive consultation, and numerous changes, the Government laid the final regulations for the Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015 before Parliament on 28 October. This provides one of the best schemes in the public sector, with a firefighter who earns £29,000 and retires after a full career receiving a £19,000 a year pension at age 60, whilst ensuring that a greater proportion of firefighters are protected from the changes than any other large public service workforce. On the same day we published a consultation to put the key fitness principles onto a statutory footing through the Fire National Framework. These proposals underpin the fitness and capability processes that exist within individual fire and rescue authorities and complement the work being undertaken by the joint fitness group facilitated by the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Peter Holland. These reforms are fair to both to firefighters and taxpayers.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 20/11/2014 15:58:18 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

155755

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Emergency Services
	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 the fire service, police service and ambulance service sharing the same buildings; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	214658
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government supports and encourages fire and rescue authorities to share estates with the the police and ambulance services in cases where the opportunity to do so is locally identified. The recently announced £75 million fire transformation fund includes, for example, £4.5 million for new fire stations in Merseyside which will be shared with the police and ambulance service. Sharing estates can of course help drive efficiency savings and further collaboration between the emergency services.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 20/11/2014 15:21:02 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

155764

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he and other Ministers in his Department have had with firefighters and their representatives.
	tabling member constituency	Dudley North
	tabling member printed	Ian Austin
	uin	214633
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>Ministers regularly meet with firefighters and their representatives on a range of fire related issues, undertake visits to fire stations across England and firefighters are regularly updated on key issues through open letters.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 20/11/2014 15:30:37 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

155765

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	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
	hansard heading	Fire Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent visits he and other Ministers in his Department have made to fire service bases in England.
	tabling member constituency	Dudley North
	tabling member printed	Ian Austin
	uin	214634
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2014 answer text <p>I have visited the following Fire and Rescue Authorities since joining the Department in July 2014 - Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London and West Midlands.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 21/11/2014 14:40:20 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
	tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley