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58430

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2014
	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	Sleeping Rough: North West
	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 rough sleepers there were in each local authority in the North West in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton North East
	tabling member printed	Mr David Crausby
	uin	199273
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p /> <p> </p><p /> <p>As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 September 2012, <em>Official Report,</em> Column 32WS, my Department no longer publishes statistics by the former government office regions. National and local authority data on rough sleeping can be found in the Rough Sleeping in England statistical release, which can be found on the Department's website at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collectinos/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collectinos/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping</a>.</p><p /> <p> </p><p /> <p> </p><p /> <p>We are investing £470 million over the current spending review period to help local authorities and voluntary sector partners prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions. This includes £20 million to support the roll out of the ‘No Second Night Out' standard and protect vital front line services. We have also supported the voluntary sector to deliver 'StreetLink' a national rough sleeping hotline, website and app, to connect rough sleepers to local services.</p><p /> <p> </p><p /> <p>On 10 June we announced that over £65 million of funding across Whitehall is being offered to councils and other organisations to tackle homelessness around the country and ensure that vulnerable people can access a range of support and lead independent lives.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 12/06/2014 15:49:47 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	437 label Biography information for Sir David Crausby

45312

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of specialist refuge places for women from black and minority ethnic communities.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Helen Jones
	uin	193806
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>I have been asked to reply.</p><p> </p><p>This Department does not hold the information requested. Decisions on the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are for local authorities: we expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.</p><p> </p><p>The dynamics of domestic abuse mean that accommodation can play an important role in the resolution of interpersonal abuse and conflict. This is why the homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and for vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support for victims of domestic abuse. Some victims will be accommodated in refuges, but Sanctuary Schemes and mainstream local authority accommodation may be an option for others, while some victims will pursue independent solutions with help and advice from support schemes as necessary.</p><p> </p><p>This Department funds UKRefugesOnline a UK wide database of domestic violence services which supports the national 24 hour free phone domestic violence helpline. This service enables those working with victims of domestic violence to identify appropriate services and potential refuge vacancies around the country so that victims can get the help they need as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p>This Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services until 2015. This funding is used to part-fund 54 Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference coordinators and 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisors. We have piloted and rolled out Clare's Law and Domestic Violence Protection Orders; extended the definition of domestic abuse to cover controlling behaviour and teenage relationships; run two successful campaigns to challenge perceptions of abuse; and placed Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing to make sure lessons are learned from individual tragedies.</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	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

57710

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2014
	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	Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there was in the number of homelessness acceptances arising from the end of a private sector tenancy in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Bury St Edmunds
	tabling member printed	Mr David Ruffley
	uin	198572
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>To assist public scrutiny, a table showing homelessness acceptances due to loss of private sector tenancy, by local authority, in each year from 2003 to 2013 is available in the Library of the House,</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Data is not collected by parliamentary constituency.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The dataset shows that under the last Administration, the average numbers were higher than under this Administration, especially when taking into account the changes in the overall size of the private rented sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I would note that the rental sector policies of HM Opposition would make the problem worse, by reducing availability of private rented accommodation, forcing up rents and discouraging investment in the private rented sector. By contrast, this Government is increasing house building, delivering £19.5 billion of investment in affordable housing, supporting billions of private investment in new private rented accommodation, providing £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness, and avoiding the excessive regulation which would harm the interests of tenants.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 11/06/2014 15:29:14 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	133 label Biography information for Mr David Ruffley

76284

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2014
	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	Waste Disposal
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to local authorities who wish to retain weekly general waste collections.
	tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
	tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
	uin	204411
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>Labour’s legacy</em></p><p>The last Labour Government had a policy of actively pushing fortnightly bin collections and hitting hard-working families with new bin charges. Their ‘Household Waste Prevention Policy Side Research Programme’ advocated “collection limitations in terms of rubbish bin size or the interval between collections”, and sought to “nationalise this policy among local authorities”. Cutting weekly rubbish collections was not a locally-led initiative, but an explicit Whitehall mission pursued with the zeal of a convert.</p><p>Legislation in 2005 allowed the introduction of bin fines for minor breaches of complex and confusing bin rules; further legislation in 2008 watered down councils’ legal duties to collect rubbish. Guidance issued in 2005 advised town halls that councillors should be bullied to stop them opposing the axing of collections or proposing to restore weekly collections. It also recommended that cutting collections should be done after local elections – to avoid the nuisance of democratic opposition. The Government funded the covert imposition of “bin brother” microchips into families’ bins. The 2009 Pre-Budget Report made clear that a further wave of bin cuts were being planned. In short, the “Town Hall Talibin” doubled council tax and halved bin collections.</p><p>We disagree. This Government believes that households deserve a frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service in return for the £122 a month in council tax that a typical household pays (Band D), especially given the typical refuse collection service only costs councils £6 to £7 per month to provide.</p><p><em>What we’ve done</em></p><p>We have taken a series of steps to help households:</p><p> </p><p>· Issued the first ever Whitehall guidance on weekly bin collections, demolishing the myths that fortnightly bin collections are needed to save money or increase recycling;</p><p> </p><p>· Stopped the Audit Commission inspections which marked down councils who do not adopt fortnightly rubbish collections, and rejected the Audit Commission guidance which advocated fortnightly collections (<em>Waste Management: The Strategic Challenge</em> and <em>Waste Management Quick Guide</em>).</p><p> </p><p>· Abolished the Local Area Agreements and National Indicator 191 imposed by Whitehall which created perverse incentives to downgrade waste collection services;</p><p> </p><p>· Scrapped the Whitehall requirement for municipal Annual Efficiency Statements, which allowed a reduction in the frequency of a household rubbish collection service to qualify as a “valid efficiency” and allowed revenue from bin fines to classed as a “cashable efficiency gain”;</p><p> </p><p>· Scrapped the imposition of eco-towns which would have had fortnightly bin collections and/or bin taxes as part of the “eco-standards”;</p><p> </p><p>· Safeguarded weekly collections for 6 million households through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme as well as championing innovation and best practice;</p><p> </p><p>· Supported over 40 innovative reward schemes to back recycling through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme (as pledged in the Coalition Agreement);</p><p> </p><p>· Through the Localism Act, revoked the 2008 legislation that allowed for the imposition of new bin taxes;</p><p> </p><p>· Issued guidance to stop the imposition of illegal ‘backdoor bin charging’ on households bins;</p><p> </p><p>· Stopped funding the ‘Waste Improvement Network’ which told councils to adopt fortnightly collections as best practice;</p><p> </p><p>· Challenged the incorrect interpretation by some bodies that European Union directives require fortnightly collections, and resisted the imposition of bin taxes by the European Union;</p><p> </p><p>· Removing powers of entry and snooping powers from “Binquisition” inspectors and scrapped guidance telling councils to rifle through families’ bins;</p><p> </p><p>· Changing building regulations to tackle ‘bin blight’; and</p><p> </p><p>· Changing the law through the Deregulation Bill to scrap unfair bin fines.</p><p>In short, this has been a fundamentally different approach from the Labour Government: we are working with families to help them go green, but believe in proper, regular and comprehensive collections for taxpaying households.</p><p>The configuration of services is complex. The attached tables, based on available estimates from WRAP, provide the most detailed information held on the breakdown of refuse and recycling collections of ‘smelly’ rubbish across councils in England.</p><p>This shows that 14 million households in England have some form of weekly collection of smelly rubbish. Had the Government not taken the actions it had, weekly collections would have disappeared in England by 2015. This simple assertion can be illustrated by the extinction of weekly collections in most of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have devolved Administrations and policies of supporting fortnightly bin collections. Indeed, in Wales, the Labour-led Welsh Government now has a policy of supporting monthly bin collections (Welsh Government, <em>Municipal Sector Plan Part 1</em>, March 2011 and Welsh Government, <em>Cabinet decision, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, Additional Funding for Zero Waste Gurnos</em>, February 2012).</p><p>We have stopped the rot, but there is more to do to support weekly bin collections. Many town hall jobsworths, over-zealous NGOs and vested interests in the waste industry remain blindly obsessed with restricting bin collections as a perverse policy goal in itself, and this is reflected in the figures in the table above. Indeed, even Keep Britain Tidy – which one would think would want regular rubbish collections to keep the streets clean – has been taken over by a NGO (Waste Watch) which campaigns for fortnightly bin collections. Bin collections are not viewed as a public service – but as a policy tool to deliver other arbitrary policy goals.</p><p><em>More to do</em></p><p>One option which should be considered is a minimum service standard – for example, the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 already lays down minimum service requirements for recycling, and indeed, the Public Health Act 1875 introduced a duty on local authorities to collect rubbish; this duty was enhanced by the Public Health Act 1936 obliging them to collect household waste weekly which existed until 1974.</p><p>Moving forward, we are open to representations on how best to support frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service; stand up for taxpayers’ interests from arbitrary state charges and taxes; and protect the local environment, public health and local amenity from the nuisance of stinking rubbish.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 18/09/2014 16:36:13 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins attachment 1 file name 0334 Evans - Table.docx title Waste Collection Tables previous answer version 10059 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009
	tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

447

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2013
	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 powers and freedoms relating to (a) skills and employment, (b) housing and (c) economic development have been devolved since May 2010 to (i) local government and (ii) local enterprise partnerships.
	tabling member constituency	Congleton
	tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
	uin	162343
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 1 July 2013]</em></p><p>The Government is taking considerable steps to devolve power and freedom to local government and Local Enterprise Partnerships.</p><p>Through the Localism Act, councils now have the general power of competence that enables them to do anything that an individual might do, apart from that which is specifically prohibited. In addition we have radically reformed the local government finance system putting levers and incentives in the hands of local authorities, for instance:</p><p>· The removal of ring-fencing from local government grants has given councils the freedom and flexibility over the money they receive and allows them to work with their residents to decide how best to make their spending decisions to fit their local priority needs.</p><p>· rewarded places that deliver growth, through the New Homes Bonus and Business Rate Retention.</p><p>· Local authorities now directly retain 50% of business rates locally which amounts to nearly £11 billion, instead of returning it to Whitehall.</p><p>· We established five pilot Rural Growth Networks aimed at tackling the barriers to economic growth in rural areas, such as a shortage of work premises, slow internet connectivity and fragmented business networks. These pilots expect to create up to 3,000 new jobs and support up to 700 new businesses, offering a local approach to local problems. We will share the lessons they learn with other Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Authorities to help them promote growth in other rural areas.</p><p>We have also given councils the ability to borrow against their Housing Revenue Account.</p><p>Through the city deals programme we have devolved powers and responsibilities to 26 cities. For example we have:</p><p>•provided levers to deliver the skills and jobs that local businesses and people need;</p><p>•created joint investment programmes; and</p><p>• devolved greater financial powers and incentives to invest in growth to all cities.</p><p>As we made clear in our response to Lord Heseltine's review of Growth, we intend to go further. We have committed to negotiating Growth Deals with every Local Enterprise Partnership through which we will allocate the Local Growth Fund and negotiate broader powers, freedoms and flexibilities where a strong case for decentralisation can be made. The Local Growth Fund brings together funding from skills, housing and transport and we have committed £2 billion in 2015/16 and it will continue to be at least £2 billion a year up to 2021. The Local Growth Fund includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>over £6 billion of transport funding;</li><li>£300 million of additional Housing Revenue Account borrowing;</li><li>£50 million of Local Infrastructure Funding for housing developers; and</li><li>£300 million skills capital funding.</li></ul><p>We are also for the first time putting £5 billion of European Structural Investment Funds for the 2014-20 period under the strategic direction of Local Enterprise Partnerships, bringing the total resource (including the Local Growth Fund) under the control of Local Enterprise Partnerships to over £17 billion up until 2020.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

76708

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2014
	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	Troubled Families Programme
	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 officials of his Department work on the Troubled Families programme; and what their grade and pay scale is.
	tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
	tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
	uin	204874
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 14 July 2014]</em></p><p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p>The Troubled Families team, based in DCLG, was established in 2011 to join up efforts across the whole of government and to provide expert help to local authorities to drive forward the programme of turning around the lives of troubled families. Government data collected in 2011 estimated that £9 billion is spent annually on troubled families – an average of £75,000 per family each year. Of this, an estimated £8 billion is spent reacting to the problems these families have and cause with just £1 billion being spent on helping families to solve and prevent problems in the longer term.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As of the end of June 2014, my Department had the following number of officials working on Troubled Families programme: 4 Executive Officers (and equivalents); 3 Higher Executive Officers; 7 Senior Executive Officers, 3 Grade 7, 5 Grade 6, 2 Deputy Directors, 1 Director and 1 Director General.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latter two senior salaries are published as part of our transparency agenda, and are respectively (a) within the range of £110,000 - £114,999 and (b) within the range of £130,000 to £134,999.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More generally, Civil Servants are paid within a grade pay scale. These ranges are Executive Officer (£22,279 to £31,225); Higher Executive Officer (£26,058 to £39,513); Senior Executive Officer (£32,311 to £45,985); Grade 7 (£40,852 to £57,110); Grade 6 (£50,203 to £70,375) and Deputy Director (£62,000 to £117,800).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 21/08/2014 11:54:06 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 10066 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

42862

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2014
	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, if he will rank how many homeless households were placed in each London local authority by other local authorities since 2010; and how many homeless households each London local authority has placed in authorities other than their own since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	191726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]</em></p><p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 713W.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 191727 question first answered 12/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

42863

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2014
	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 the actual and percentage change was in the number of households from each London local authority provided with temporary accommodation outside their home borough between March 2010 and December 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	191727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]</em></p><p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 713W.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 191726 question first answered 12/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

42865

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2014
	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 households have been placed in temporary accommodation in each London local authority by councils other than their own since March 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	191729
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]</em></p><p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 713W.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 191722 191730 191731 question first answered 12/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

42866

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2014
	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 homeless households have been placed in temporary accommodation in each London local authority by councils other than their own in each of the last eight quarters.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	191730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]</em></p><p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 713W.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 191722 191729 191731 question first answered 12/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck