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answering dept id	7
session number	3
max date tabled	2013-12-04

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registered interest

date

exactly:

or between:
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answering body

answering dept id

answering dept short name

answering dept sort name

house id

legislature


pref label

question text

tabling member constituency

tabling member printed

uin

answer

is ministerial correction

date of answer

exactly:

or between:
and

answer text

answering member constituency

answering member printed

grouped question UIN

question first answered

answering member


label

tabling member


label

25299

registered interest

date

19/11/2013

answering body

Department for Communities and Local Government

answering dept id

answering dept short name

answering dept sort name

house id

legislature

25259

pref label	House of Commons

question text

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Department in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence.

tabling member constituency

Islwyn

tabling member printed

Chris Evans

uin

176826

answer

is ministerial correction

date of answer

07/04/2014

answer text

Role of the DepartmentReflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, Official Report, Column 592W).Spending dataThe tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department's current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher. <table><thead><tr><td> </td><td>Overseas Travel</td><td>Overseas Accommodation</td><td>Overseas Subsistence</td><td>Total</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>July 2009 - March 10</td><td>£408,621</td><td>£19,847</td><td>£79,574</td><td>£508,042 (part-year)</td></tr><tr><td>2010-11</td><td>£56,304</td><td>£21,759</td><td>£27,798</td><td>£105,861</td></tr><tr><td>2011-12</td><td>£69,463</td><td>£21,204</td><td>£19,946</td><td>£110,613</td></tr><tr><td>2012-13</td><td>£78,474</td><td>£29,224</td><td>£21,911</td><td>£129,609</td></tr></tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><td> </td><td>UK Travel</td><td>UK Accommodation</td><td>UK Subsistence</td><td>Total</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>July 2009 - March 10</td><td>£621,028</td><td>£309,260</td><td>£174,888</td><td>£1,105,176 (part-year)</td></tr><tr><td>2010-11</td><td>£434,467</td><td>£199,563</td><td>£81,315</td><td>£715,345</td></tr><tr><td>2011-12</td><td>£980,307</td><td>£162,544</td><td>£71,913</td><td>£1,214,764</td></tr><tr><td>2012-13</td><td>£1,030,710</td><td>£166,149</td><td>£74,424</td><td>£1,271,283</td></tr></tbody></table>Explanatory notes:- Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.- The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.- Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.- For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.- For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.- Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers' from the abolition of regional government in England.

answering member constituency

Great Yarmouth

answering member printed

Brandon Lewis

grouped question UIN

175475

question first answered

07/04/2014 12:00:00

answering member

4009

label	Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis

tabling member

4040

label	Biography information for Chris Evans

19992

registered interest

date

11/11/2013

answering body

Department for Communities and Local Government

answering dept id

answering dept short name

answering dept sort name

house id

legislature

25259

pref label	House of Commons

question text

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department has made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

tabling member constituency

Nottingham East

tabling member printed

Chris Leslie

uin

175475

answer

is ministerial correction

date of answer

07/04/2014

answer text

answering member constituency

Great Yarmouth

answering member printed

Brandon Lewis

grouped question UIN

176826

question first answered

07/04/2014 12:00:00

answering member

4009

label	Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis

tabling member

422

label	Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

18743

registered interest

date

04/11/2013

answering body

Department for Communities and Local Government

answering dept id

answering dept short name

answering dept sort name

house id

legislature

25259

pref label	House of Commons

question text

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding was allocated from Homes and Community Agency to (a) develop new affordable housing and (b) bring empty homes back into use in Harrow in each of the last five years.

tabling member constituency

Harrow West

tabling member printed

Mr Gareth Thomas

uin

174351

answer

is ministerial correction

date of answer

28/04/2014

answer text

[Holding Reply: Thursday 7 November 2013]The figures for affordable housing are as follows for the London Borough of Harrow area: <table><tbody><tr><td>2008-09</td><td>£22 million</td></tr><tr><td>2009-10</td><td>£45 million</td></tr><tr><td>2010-11</td><td>£26 million</td></tr><tr><td>2011-12</td><td>£15 million</td></tr><tr><td>2012-13</td><td>£13 million</td></tr></tbody></table>Since April 2012, allocations from the Affordable Housing Programme have been overseen by the Greater London Authority rather than the Homes and Communities Agency. There have been no specific allocations on empty homes over this period.As outlined to the hon. Member in the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, Column 121W, I would note that the new Affordable Rent model now allows for more affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels of taxpayer capital subsidy and lever in more private investment.As the National Audit Office has observed: “The Department selected the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “The Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of the social housing sector; introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012, HC465, pp.6-7).I also note that the Mayor's proposed Housing Strategy states: “£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011-15” (Mayor of London, “The Revised London Housing Strategy”, December2011, p.35).Across England, 170,000 affordable homes have been delivered so far since April 2010, and a total of £19.5 billion of public and private investment is being spent on affordable housing over the current Spending Review period.

answering member constituency

Keighley

answering member printed

Kris Hopkins

question first answered

28/04/2014 12:00:00

answering member

4043

label	Biography information for Kris Hopkins

tabling member

177

label	Biography information for Gareth Thomas

447

registered interest

date

25/06/2013

answering body

Department for Communities and Local Government

answering dept id

answering dept short name

answering dept sort name

house id

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

is ministerial correction

date of answer

13/05/2014

answer text

[Holding Reply: Monday 1 July 2013]The Government is taking considerable steps to devolve power and freedom to local government and Local Enterprise Partnerships.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:· 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.· rewarded places that deliver growth, through the New Homes Bonus and Business Rate Retention.· Local authorities now directly retain 50% of business rates locally which amounts to nearly £11 billion, instead of returning it to Whitehall.· 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.We have also given councils the ability to borrow against their Housing Revenue Account.Through the city deals programme we have devolved powers and responsibilities to 26 cities. For example we have:•provided levers to deliver the skills and jobs that local businesses and people need;•created joint investment programmes; and• devolved greater financial powers and incentives to invest in growth to all cities.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: <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>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.

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