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174962

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each of the last five years, whether the number of units of social housing in the United Kingdom has increased or decreased; how many units have been sold to foreign buyers; and whether the funds received by the sale of social housing are being used to build new social housing.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Chesterton
uin	HL4341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2015 answer text <p>The numbers of social dwelling stock in the United Kingdom in the five years to 2012 (the most recent date for which UK figures are available) are as follows:</p><p> </p><p>2007 4,886,000</p><p> </p><p>2008 4,867,000</p><p> </p><p>2009 4,886,000</p><p> </p><p>2010 4,907,000</p><p> </p><p>2011 4,924,000</p><p> </p><p>2012 4,935,000</p><p> </p><p>In England, council house building starts are now at a 23 year high and almost twice as many council homes have been built in the last 4 years than from 1997 to 2009. Previously, councils were not encouraged to build new homes from sales receipts and only 1 new council home was built for every 170 Right to Buy sales completed under the last Administration.</p><p> </p><p>Since the Right to Buy was reinvigorated in England, £730 million in sales receipts are being re-invested in affordable house building; levering a further £1.7 billion of investment over the next 2 years. This means that in total, over £2.4 billion will be raised to invest in affordable house building as a result of the as a result of Right to Buy.</p><p> </p><p>The Right to Buy is only available to social tenants with at least five years’ tenancy. The purchaser must be a secure tenant and the property must be the resident’s only or main home. Prior to that, the social tenant would also have to have been eligible for social housing in the first place, and resided for long enough to move up to the top of any waiting list. In that context, an overseas buyer would simply not be eligible.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has taken steps to support members of the Armed Forces get onto the housing ladder – this would include supporting those who may have been resident overseas during their term of service. We have also changed statutory guidance to give priority to those with local connections and local residency in the allocation of social housing.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 09/03/2015 16:53:27 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2543 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Chesterton

175010

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Legal Costs
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 the Government spent on legal fees in the case of Moore and Coates v the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which ruling was made on 21 January 2015.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	221613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 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 which end up in the courts. This is particularly the case in light of the long-term growth of judicial review and the growing creep of European Union directives, regulations and case law; equality law and human rights law.</p><p> </p><p>Costs to date in these two claims are £68,825 excluding VAT.</p><p> </p><p>The Government makes no apologies for seeking to safeguard Green Belt protection and trying to bring a sense of fair play to the planning system. The Government’s planning policy is clear that both temporary and permanent traveller sites are inappropriate development in the Green Belt. The judgment does not question that principle.</p><p> </p><p>Indeed, there have been a number of recent legal cases where the planning appeal decisions of the Secretary of State have succeeded in relation to traveller development in the Green Belt and awarded costs in favour of DCLG, including:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>Mulvenna v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Barney-Smith v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Dear v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Connors, Connors, Sines, Lee, and Doran v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government – five separate claims heard together.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Hence, any payment of costs in Moore vs Coates needs to be seen in this context as my Department has successfully defended the eight claims above and costs are due to my Department.</p><p> </p><p>To place the Department’s spending in context more broadly, 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> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 23/02/2015 17:09:33 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 41181 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

175012

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Private Sector: Thames Gateway
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what Government support (a) is available and (b) has been provided to secure private sector investment in the Thames Gateway since 2010.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	221627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 221628 221629 221630 221631 222265 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:08:14 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 690691 Brown.docx title Thames Gateway - Major Projects
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

175013

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Private Sector: Thames Gateway
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 progress in securing private sector investment in the Thames Gateway since 2010.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	221628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 221627 221629 221630 221631 222265 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:08:14 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 690691 Brown.docx title Thames Gateway - Major Projects
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

175014

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Domestic Visits: Thames Gateway
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for Ministers to visit locations in the Thames Gateway in the period up to the dissolution of Parliament; and what the planned locations of those visits are.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	221629
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 221627 221628 221630 221631 222265 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:08:14 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 690691 Brown.docx title Thames Gateway - Major Projects
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

175015

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Regeneration: Thames Gateway
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 he plans to take to ensure that development of new Thames Gateway communities is sustainable, cohesive and integrated.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	221630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 221627 221628 221629 221631 222265 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:08:14 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 690691 Brown.docx title Thames Gateway - Major Projects
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

175016

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Private Sector: Thames Gateway
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 progress in securing private sector investment in Thames Gateway projects at (a) London Gateway Port, (b) Purfleet, (c) Paramount Park and (d) Southend Airport since 2010.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	221631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 221627 221628 221629 221630 222265 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:08:14 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt attachment 1 file name 690691 Brown.docx title Thames Gateway - Major Projects
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

174364

registered interest
date	19/01/2015
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	Staff
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 on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	221225
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2015 answer text <p>My Department has reduced staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14, an ongoing saving of £123 million a year.<br><br>There is and remains a need to replace staff from general turnover and where we need specific technical skills. We are committed to open recruitment, so we can obtain individual staff with the best expertise from the private sector, the voluntary sector and other parts of the public sector.</p><p> </p><p>The total sums spent on recruitment agencies are as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£27,787</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£13,201</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£9,974</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£16,946</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>Zero</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These figures exclude public appointments and Cabinet Office recruitment but are inclusive of VAT.</p><p> </p><p>We have not made any such outplacement agencies fees in the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers' money and improve overall quality of the training provision. My answer of 24 February 2015, Question 224508, outlined the spending in each full financial year from 2008-09 onwards.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 04/03/2015 16:57:54 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 39797 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

174370

registered interest
date	19/01/2015
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	Affordable Housing
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 on the delivery of affordable housing of his Department's policy on section 106 affordable housing exemptions for small sites.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton North East
tabling member printed	Emma Reynolds
uin	221278
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Communities and Local Government carried out a public consultation in March 2014 to invite views and local evidence on proposed changes to national policy on section 106 affordable housing and tariff contributions. All evidence submitted was carefully considered.</p><p> </p><p>As a consequence of the consultation, we amended our proposals to introduce a lower threshold of 5 units for rural areas, as outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 28 November 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 55WS. Rural exception sites are also exempted.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that we have also undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment, which I will arrange to be placed in the Library of the House. We do not consider our reforms will have a negative impact on discrimination, fostering good relations or advancing equality of opportunity.</p><p> </p><p>We estimate that the policy will save, on average, £15,000 in Section 106 housing contributions per new dwelling in England—some councils are charging up to £145,000 on single dwellings. Further savings will be made from scaling back Section 106 tariffs, which may add additional charges of more than £15,000 per dwelling, over and above any housing contributions. Taken together, these reforms will deliver six-figure savings for small-scale developers in some parts of the country.</p><p> </p><p>We do not believe that our reforms will have any significant adverse effect on our affordable housing programme. We have so far delivered 217,000 new affordable homes since 2010, and are bringing in £19.5 billion of public and private in affordable housing over the current Spending Review period. In the next Parliament, we are on track to deliver a further 275,000 new affordable homes, backed up by £38 billion of public and private investment.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Builders Federation has confirmed that these changes will provide a boost to small and medium builders, stating: “This exemption would offer small and medium-sized developers a shot in the arm. The time and expense of negotiating Section 106 affordable housing contributions on small sites, and the subsequent payments, can threaten the viability of small developments and act as another barrier to the entry and growth of smaller firms”</p><p> </p><p>Similarly, the Federation of Master Builders has said: “The new ten unit threshold for affordable housing contributions is a sensible and proportionate approach to help alleviate the pressure on SME house builders who have been squeezed out of the housing market in recent years. This is important because without a viable SME house building sector we won’t be able to build the number of new homes that are needed to address the housing crisis”.</p><p> </p><p>We also listened to representations from the hon. (Labour) Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) who has campaigned vigorously against such levies. Indeed, I would observe that under the majority of the last Labour Government, the national threshold (as stated in PPG3) was actually 15 units.</p><p> </p><p>Loading stealth taxes on new housing just makes housing less affordable and cuts house building. Unrealistic Section 106 charges result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: reducing them can result in more housing and more affordable housing. Our reforms will help unblock small stalled sites and provide a boost to self-builders and small house builders.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 12/02/2015 17:08:26 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 39802 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds

173894

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
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	Neighbourhood Plans
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 community-led developments have completed as a result of the Community Right to Build.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton North East
tabling member printed	Emma Reynolds
uin	220920
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2015 answer text <p>A key priority for the Coalition Government has been to give communities greater control over shaping the development of their area. The Localism Act 2011 created new powers for communities to write their own neighbourhood plans and to gain planning permission for community-led development through Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders.</p><p> </p><p>Nearly 1,400 communities, covering six million people, are now engaged at different stages of the neighbourhood planning process, giving millions of people the chance to participate in identifying, and voting on, where development takes place and what it looks like. All 52 referendums held to date have resulted in big ‘yes’ votes and 34 plans have been ‘made’ (brought into force) and therefore are part of the development plan, the starting point for determining planning applications.</p><p> </p><p>The popularity of neighbourhood planning has shown that when given the opportunity, communities are keen to shape future development in their areas, and we expect the number of community-led developments to increase as more neighbourhood plans are finalised. Over the last two years there have been over 3,100 enquiries and 14,000 web hits relating to the Community Right to Build. The Community Right to Build gives communities the freedom to build new homes, shops, businesses or facilities where they want them, without going through the normal planning application process. Experience has shown that following discussions with the local planning authority for community-led development proposals, community groups have chosen to submit a planning application for their project, rather than a Community Right to Build Order.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure groups undertaking community-led development have the right support and advice to gain planning approval, we broadened the remit of available support funding to assist community groups to bring forward development either through Community Right to Build Orders or community-led planning applications.</p><p> </p><p>This has led to significant take up of funding for community-led projects coming forward, with over 100 applications for funding already approved by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority. Locality and their partners have also been working with 60 groups to provide assistance and advice.</p><p> </p><p>The first three referendums for Community Right to Build Orders took place in December, all of which were passed and are now in force.</p><p> </p><p>We have allocated a further £3.5 million to support the Community Right to Build and community-led planning applications for housing in 2015-18. On 17 February, my department announced a further £6 million funding boost to the community rights programme. This new funding will mean:</p><p> </p><ul><li>like-minded communities will be able to network and learn from each other through the new My Community Network;</li><li>communities will have access to tailored advice through a phone and online advice service to help them use the range of community rights and other neighbourhood approaches;</li><li>100 more neighbourhoods will be supported to use the Our Place approach, enabling councils and other public sector providers, voluntary and community groups, local businesses and the community to work together to tackle important local issues from job creation to health priorities;</li><li>100 communities will receive support to take the first steps in identifying important local issues and develop Community Action Plans;</li><li>50 communities will receive support to develop economic plans to address local economic priorities like job creation and enterprise;</li><li>50 local authority/community partnerships will receive advice, support and grants to support the transfer of multiple or complex publicly owned assets into community ownership; and</li><li>6 new contracts have been awarded to external partners to support communities in using the community rights in 2015-16.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 220918 220919 220921 question first answered 24/02/2015 16:42:14 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams previous answer version 39357 answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
tabling member	4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds