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35983

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

42033

	registered interest
	date	06/03/2014
	answering body	Leader of the House
	answering dept id	34
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict hon. Members from having jobs beside that of a Member of Parliament.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	902989
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2014 answer text <p>The Government have no plans to bring forward such proposals. The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life have previously recommended that MPs should remain free to have paid employment unrelated to their role as MPs, and that this is desirable in performing their role (1<sup>st</sup> Report Committee on Standards in Public Life).</p><p>It is important that there is transparency about what MPs do, who pays them and for what. The House changed its rules before the last election to ensure that this detail is shown in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. MPs are here to work for their constituents and that should remain the principal purpose of all MPs elected to this place.</p> answering member constituency South Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Andrew Lansley question first answered 12/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 123 label Biography information for Lord Lansley
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

42046

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, how many people have been in receipt of out-of-work benefits for (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) three years or more in (i) Wrexham constituency, (ii) Wales and (iii) the UK in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191126
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The information we can provide is shown in the table below:</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Out of work benefit claimants by statistical group and duration of oldest claim, for Great Britain, Wales and Wrexham constituency: August 2011- August 2013</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>All</p></td><td><p>Up to 1 year</p></td><td><p>1 to 2 years</p></td><td><p>2 to 3 years</p></td><td><p>3 years and over</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p>August 2011</p></td><td><p>Great Britain</p></td><td><p>4,842,010</p></td><td><p>1,937,380</p></td><td><p>503,230</p></td><td><p>290,240</p></td><td><p>2,111,170</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>296,370</p></td><td><p>105,870</p></td><td><p>27,670</p></td><td><p>18,030</p></td><td><p>144,790</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wrexham</p></td><td><p>6,350</p></td><td><p>2,370</p></td><td><p>620</p></td><td><p>420</p></td><td><p>2,930</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p>August 2012</p></td><td><p>Great Britain</p></td><td><p>4,721,460</p></td><td><p>2,138,490</p></td><td><p>649,290</p></td><td><p>313,940</p></td><td><p>1,619,740</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>286,820</p></td><td><p>124,910</p></td><td><p>35,260</p></td><td><p>17,320</p></td><td><p>109,320</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wrexham</p></td><td><p>6,090</p></td><td><p>2,850</p></td><td><p>660</p></td><td><p>380</p></td><td><p>2,200</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p>August 2013</p></td><td><p>Great Britain</p></td><td><p>4,395,860</p></td><td><p>2,051,340</p></td><td><p>881,810</p></td><td><p>389,270</p></td><td><p>1,073,440</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>267,890</p></td><td><p>121,960</p></td><td><p>53,400</p></td><td><p>21,180</p></td><td><p>71,340</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wrexham</p></td><td><p>5,710</p></td><td><p>2,740</p></td><td><p>1,160</p></td><td><p>400</p></td><td><p>1,400</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where a claim has converted to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance or Income Support the data reflects the duration from the start of ESA claim. Most of these re-assessments have occurred since April 2011 when the re-assessment process commenced.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten and totals may not sum due to rounding. </p><p>2. Out of work benefits which are included in this analysis are:-</p><p>Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)</p><p>Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)</p><p>Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance (IB/SDA)</p><p>Income Support (IS).</p><p>3. Incapacity Benefit and IS on incapacity grounds were replaced by Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008.</p><p>4. The duration of claim reflects the longest out-of-work benefit claim for each person.</p><p>5. Where a claim has converted to ESA from IB/SDA or IS data reflects duration from start of ESA claim.</p><p>6. Great Britain data have been provided as the information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:</p><p> <a href="http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm</a></p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

42615

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the payment of pensions into post office card accounts.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191485
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Department pays benefits and pensions by Direct Payment into a bank, building society, credit union or Post Office card account.</p><p>The Post Office card account is a very simple account with limited functionality. Our policy has always been clear that the best option, especially for people of working age, is an account that can accept payments from employers and has transactional facilities such as direct debits for the payment of bills and housing costs.</p><p>The Department is currently in discussions with Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 191484 question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

42616

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Executive on the closure of the Independent Living Fund.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191486
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland have been informed of the decision to close the Independent Living Fund on 30 June 2015. I will be writing to Ministers with further details shortly.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

42617

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the payment of benefits into post office card accounts.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Department pays benefits and pensions by Direct Payment into a bank, building society, credit union or Post Office card account.</p><p>The Post Office card account is a very simple account with limited functionality. Our policy has always been clear that the best option, especially for people of working age, is an account that can accept payments from employers and has transactional facilities such as direct debits for the payment of bills and housing costs.</p><p>The Department is currently in discussions with Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 191485 question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

43183

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce statutory time limits on claims for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>In line with other benefits, there are no statutory time limits on processing times to claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and we have no plans to change that position.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking the necessary action to improve the processing times, including working with the providers. </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 18/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

41989

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2014
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the net benefit to the UK economy of data.gov.uk since it publicly launched in January 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	191143
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p> We know that open data is of huge value to the economy. It is difficult to cite an exact figure for the net benefit of data.gov.uk. </p><p /> <p>A recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/198905/bis-13-743-market-assessment-of-public-sector-information.pdf" target="_blank">Deloitte report</a>, available at LINK, cited £1.8bn of direct benefit and £6.8bn of indirect benefit to the UK economy from the use of open data, although this also includes data that is not government data. </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

42627

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	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 Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to tackle delays faced by people waiting for a medical assessment following their application for personal independence payment.
	tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
	tabling member printed	Tim Farron
	uin	191500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p /> <p>Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress. </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

42384

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