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89501

	registered interest
	date	29/08/2014
	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	Parish and Town Councils: Publications
	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 complaints his Department has received in the last five years of town and parish councils breaching their statutory responsibility to publish minutes; and which such councils have been the subject of the most complaints.
	tabling member constituency	Pendle
	tabling member printed	Andrew Stephenson
	uin	207161
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>My Department receives correspondence on a wide range of issues about Parish Councils. <br><br></p><p>Complaints or concerns regarding a parish council’s behaviour can be made in a number of ways; by utilising the parish council’s complaints procedure, raising the matter at a parish meeting, pointing out concerns during the public inspection period of accounts for the audit, or by joining with a group of local electors to call for a parish poll on the issue. It is for the parish council concerned to consider the evidence raised in any of the above public representation and to take action inline with statute and their standing orders/complaints procedures.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, parish councils, like all tiers of government, must act within the law at all times, if a decision is considered unlawful, it may be challenged by the courts. Ultimately, if a council fails to carry out its statutory duties it will be accountable for its actions and decisions through the ballot box.<br><br>Our proposed Transparency Code for parish councils and smaller authorities seeks to increase the openness and accessibility of council papers and minutes by making them accessible online.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 27/10/2014 14:54:01 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson

77889

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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	Local Government: Debts
	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 average debt level per capita is of local authorities in (a) England and (b) the North West; and what the level of debt per capita is in Warrington Borough Council.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Helen Jones
	uin	205952
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the rt.hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Nicholas Brown) on 14 July 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 532W.</p><p> </p><p>My Department does not publish regional statistics.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 27/10/2014 16:41:10 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 11586 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

63855

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	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	Solar Power: Suffolk
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent in legal fees during the judicial review brought against his Department on the solar farm at Ellough Airfield, Suffolk.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	202291
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Planning casework is a quasi-judicial function of the department, and as was the case under the last Administration, it attracts a high volume of legal challenges. This is particularly the case in light of the long-term growth of both judicial review and the growing creep of European Union directives, regulations and case law.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yet to place the Department’s spending in context, I would observe that the Department spent £1.7 million in external lawyers’ fees in 2009-10 (excluding Treasury Solicitors), in 2013-14, the figure had fallen to £699,000.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The proposed application for a sizeable solar farm development in Suffolk was refused by Waveney District Council. That decision was appealed by the developer, was recovered for Ministerial decision, and that appeal was refused by the Secretary of State. The decision letter outlines the reasons, but particular issues included the effect upon the character and appearance of the countryside.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The appellant, Lark Energy, challenged the decision in the High Court; four of the five grounds of challenge were rejected by the Court. The challenge however succeeded on just one ground – a technical point of law on the application of the statutory test for appeals under the relevant planning legislation. The Department spent £6,596 (ex VAT) in defending this challenge. The appeal is now back with the Department for re-determination.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Equally, I would observe that a week later, the High Court upheld the decision of the Secretary of State in a recovered appeal to refuse a proposed six turbine wind farm on the Somerset Levels, following its initial refusal by Sedgemoor District Council. The applicants, Ecotricity, were ordered to pay the Department’s costs (which may be in the region of £9,000).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>All decisions on recovered appeals are taken by the Secretary of State on their merits, following due process and after careful consideration of both the public inquiry evidence and the independent Inspector’s recommendation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 27/10/2014 17:07:22 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

99791

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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	Shared Ownership Schemes
	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 ensure that part-owners do not face above-inflation increases to service charges under shared ownership schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Dudley North
	tabling member printed	Ian Austin
	uin	211086
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Shared owners have a full repairing lease and are financially responsible for all maintenance charges and outgoings, in the same way as any other leaseholder or homeowner.</p><p>The Government has no power to intervene in how housing associations, which are private, non-profit making organisations, carry out their maintenance or repair works. However, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires that service charges are only payable where the costs incurred are reasonable.<br><br>Where they believe that the service charges they are being asked to pay are unreasonable, leaseholders - including those who have purchased under a shared ownership scheme - have a number of statutory rights and protections in respect of those service charges, and the management of their property. These include:<br><br><br>- The right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the liability to pay and reasonableness of service charges.<br>- The right to write to their landlord to request a written summary of the costs which make up the service charges, and to require the landlord to provide reasonable facilities to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary.<br>- Where new or extended services are introduced and where an additional charge may need to be made, landlords are expected to consult appropriately with tenants before introducing these services and associated charges.<br><br>Free initial advice and information on leaseholders' rights can be obtained from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). This is a specialist body, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, to provide initial advice and information on a wide range of residential leasehold issues.<br><br></p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 27/10/2014 14:35:55 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

99792

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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	Help to Buy Scheme: Woking
	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) house buyers and (b) first-time buyers have been supported under the Government's Help to Buy scheme in Woking constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Woking
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Lord
	uin	211116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting people’s aspirations to own their own home.</p><p> </p><p>Over 50,000 households have been supported by the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Equity Loan schemes and around 80% of these are first-time buyers. The Department does not collect data on the number of first time buyers supported by Help to Buy: NewBuy. The Department does not publish data on the number of first-time buyers supported by the Help to Buy schemes at local authority or constituency level.</p><p> </p><p>Data at constituency level is only available for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the number of Help to Buy sales at local authority and postcode level are published in the Open Data Communities portal for Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Help to Buy: Equity Loan, which are available at the following link:</p><p><a href="http://opendatacommunities.org/def/concept/folders/themes/housing-market" target="_blank">http://opendatacommunities.org/def/concept/folders/themes/housing-market</a></p><p> </p><p>Statistics on Help to Buy: NewBuy sales at local authority level are published on the Department’s website, which are available at the following link:</p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics" target="_blank">http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>The table below breaks down the total Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Equity Loan sales in Woking and Guildford local authority areas:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>Mortgage Guarantee</p><p>(to 30 June 2014)</p></td><td><p>Equity Loan</p><p>(to 31 August 2014)</p></td><td><p>NewBuy</p><p>(to 30 June 2014)</p></td><td><p><strong>TOTAL</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Woking</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>81</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>127</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Guildford</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 27/10/2014 17:11:34 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord

89506

	registered interest
	date	29/08/2014
	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	Voluntary Work: Religion
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of regional variations in participation in his Department's Together in Service scheme.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	207117
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Twenty-five projects have been approved so far, in Barking and Dagenham, Birmingham, Bradford, Brent, Cambridge, Cornwall (mainly Truro), Coventry, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Epping Forest, Leicester, Lambeth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Newham, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Redbridge, Sheffield and Southampton. In addition, two projects cover activity in more than one geographic location.</p><p> </p><p>A total of £74,000 has been allocated to these projects. 18 projects, totalling £42,000, are awaiting financial approval from the Department. In addition, there are further projects in the pipeline.</p><p> </p><p>Faith Action, the body contracted to run the Together in Service programme, will publish a full assessment after the scheme comes to an end on 31 March 2015. By the end of the programme, my Department will have allocated £200,000 in match-funding for Together in Service projects.</p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 207108 207109 208021 question first answered 27/10/2014 16:05:10 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

89508

	registered interest
	date	29/08/2014
	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	Voluntary Work: Religion
	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 publish an assessment of the progress of his Department's Together in Service scheme.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	207108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Twenty-five projects have been approved so far, in Barking and Dagenham, Birmingham, Bradford, Brent, Cambridge, Cornwall (mainly Truro), Coventry, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Epping Forest, Leicester, Lambeth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Newham, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Redbridge, Sheffield and Southampton. In addition, two projects cover activity in more than one geographic location.</p><p> </p><p>A total of £74,000 has been allocated to these projects. 18 projects, totalling £42,000, are awaiting financial approval from the Department. In addition, there are further projects in the pipeline.</p><p> </p><p>Faith Action, the body contracted to run the Together in Service programme, will publish a full assessment after the scheme comes to an end on 31 March 2015. By the end of the programme, my Department will have allocated £200,000 in match-funding for Together in Service projects.</p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 207109 207117 208021 question first answered 27/10/2014 16:05:09 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

89510

	registered interest
	date	29/08/2014
	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	Voluntary Work: Religion
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funds have been made available to organisations under his Department's Together in Service scheme.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	207109
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Twenty-five projects have been approved so far, in Barking and Dagenham, Birmingham, Bradford, Brent, Cambridge, Cornwall (mainly Truro), Coventry, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Epping Forest, Leicester, Lambeth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Newham, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Redbridge, Sheffield and Southampton. In addition, two projects cover activity in more than one geographic location.</p><p> </p><p>A total of £74,000 has been allocated to these projects. 18 projects, totalling £42,000, are awaiting financial approval from the Department. In addition, there are further projects in the pipeline.</p><p> </p><p>Faith Action, the body contracted to run the Together in Service programme, will publish a full assessment after the scheme comes to an end on 31 March 2015. By the end of the programme, my Department will have allocated £200,000 in match-funding for Together in Service projects.</p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 207108 207117 208021 question first answered 27/10/2014 16:05:10 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

90428

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2014
	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	Voluntary Work: Religion
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what budget his Department has allocated to its Together in Service scheme.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	208021
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Twenty-five projects have been approved so far, in Barking and Dagenham, Birmingham, Bradford, Brent, Cambridge, Cornwall (mainly Truro), Coventry, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Epping Forest, Leicester, Lambeth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Newham, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Redbridge, Sheffield and Southampton. In addition, two projects cover activity in more than one geographic location.</p><p> </p><p>A total of £74,000 has been allocated to these projects. 18 projects, totalling £42,000, are awaiting financial approval from the Department. In addition, there are further projects in the pipeline.</p><p> </p><p>Faith Action, the body contracted to run the Together in Service programme, will publish a full assessment after the scheme comes to an end on 31 March 2015. By the end of the programme, my Department will have allocated £200,000 in match-funding for Together in Service projects.</p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 207108 207109 207117 question first answered 27/10/2014 16:05:10 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

76281

	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: Lancashire
	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 make an assessment of the effect of the removal of recycling credits by Lancashire County Council on weekly waste collections in that county.
	tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
	tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
	uin	204408
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p><em>Guidance</em></p><p>Recycling credits is a policy issue for which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has the lead. DEFRA previously published guidance on the Recycling Credits Scheme in 2006 and this can be found at:</p><p><a href="http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/localauth/partnerwork/documents/recyclingcreditscheme-guidance.pdf" target="_blank">http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/localauth/partnerwork/documents/recyclingcreditscheme-guidance.pdf</a></p><p>The guidance and legislation are clear that, further to Section 52 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, waste disposal authorities (the county council) have a legal duty to pay waste disposal credits to a waste collection authority (the borough council) in their area when the waste collection authority diverts waste from the household waste stream for recycling. This duty is waived only if the waste collection authority has agreed that such payments need not be made by the waste disposal authority.</p><p><em>Recycling credits</em></p><p>I understand the recycling credits system has worked well in Ribble Valley. It has encouraged the borough to improve recycling rates while retaining weekly collections of residual waste. Ribble Valley’s recycling collection is beneficial for Lancashire County Council as (i) the waste does not therefore go to landfill and incur landfill tax; and (ii) it receives the value of the recycled materials.</p><p>My Department does not collect data on or estimate the financial effect on councils as a result of the withdrawal of recycling credits. However, we have been made aware that the financial effect of the withdrawal of recycling credits by Lancashire County Council in Ribble Valley will be considerable.</p><p>It is unacceptable if Lancashire County Council is trying to force Ribble Valley to end its weekly bin collection due to the withdrawal of recycling credits. It should find a way of agreeing a fair financial deal which is acceptable to Ribble Valley and also maintains a weekly collection.</p><p>It is a myth that weekly bin collection and high levels of recycling cannot go hand in hand, as we have made clear in our practice guidance on weekly collections supported in January 2014, based on the evidence and best practice learnt from the Weekly Collections Support Scheme.</p><p><em>Funding</em></p><p>It does seem perverse and unfair that the cost of recycling should fall completely on Ribble Valley Borough Council when, based upon its efforts, Lancashire County Council avoids the costs of disposal to landfill and is able to sell the recyclate material.</p><p>There are no plans for my Department to provide special financial support to district councils in Lancashire, as this change stems from actions of the county council, not the Government. However, we would strongly recommend that Ribble Valley take its own legal advice on this matter, given the County Council may potentially be in breach of its legal duties under the 1990 Act.</p><p>More broadly, my Department has offered other means of support to councils from the Weekly Collection Support Scheme and in November 2012, Ribble Valley District Council was awarded £750,000 from the Scheme to introduce new fortnightly mixed food and garden waste collections and support weekly residual waste collections.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 204409 204410 204412 question first answered 27/10/2014 17:02:33 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 10055 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans