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44668

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
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
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 is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become signatories to the Stewardship Code.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Paul Uppal
uin	193480
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis grouped question UIN 193481 question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4078 label Biography information for Paul Uppal

44669

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
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
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 is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Paul Uppal
uin	193481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis grouped question UIN 193480 question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4078 label Biography information for Paul Uppal

44670

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the need for local authority pension schemes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Paul Uppal
uin	193479
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p>These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which should address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.</p><p>Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4078 label Biography information for Paul Uppal

44675

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the development announced in Budget 2014 at Ebbsfleet will consist of affordable homes.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Roberta Blackman-Woods
uin	193427
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government does not impose a particular level of affordable housing for housing schemes. The percentage of affordable units will be a matter for local decision making taking account of the local authorities' local plans and site viability. Unrealistic Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1501 label Biography information for Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods

44678

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	193383
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham on 26 March 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, column 300W.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

44526

registered interest
date	21/03/2014
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
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 are being taken to ensure that the legal costs accrued over the closure of the Traveller site in Fylde are recovered from the travellers.
tabling member constituency	Fylde
tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
uin	193259
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Secretary of State to dismiss the planning appeal and uphold the enforcement notice in relation to an unauthorised traveller site at Fairfield Road, Hardhorn.</p><p>My Department seeks to recover the costs of litigation from the other parties where this is appropriate, and I can confirm that we will be seeking to do so in this case.</p><p>Flyde Borough Council may also seek to do the same through due legal process; however, this is a matter for the council rather than my Department.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies

43992

registered interest
date	19/03/2014
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
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 paid Sir Ken Knight in (a) salary, (b) fees and (c) expenses for the independent review of efficiency and operations in fire and rescue authorities in England.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mrs Mary Glindon
uin	192775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Monday 24 March 2014]</em></p><p>Sir Ken Knight worked on his independent review between 1 January and 22 June 2013. He was paid £53,635 during this period. Between 1 January and 28 January 2013, Sir Ken was also the Government's Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in addition to conducting initial fieldwork for his review. His salary rate whilst working on the Knight Review was in line with his previous salary rate when he was Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser.</p><p>Sir Ken's review found huge variations in the way the 46 fire and rescue authorities in England operate and highlighted the scope for the services to find £200 million in savings whilst safeguarding emergency operations and protecting public safety. His report highlighted the importance of collaboration with other local services in helping fire and rescue authorities to transform the way they run to meet the changing needs of communities. The Government will be publishing a formal response to the report in due course. The best fire and rescue authorities are already beginning to collaborate with police and ambulance services and local authorities – through co-location of stations and services, through sharing back office functions, including sharing senior staff, and through co-responding and joining up on service delivery.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 09/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

43348

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
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
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 planning appeals resulted in local authority decisions being overturned by the planning inspector in South Staffordshire in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.
tabling member constituency	South Staffordshire
tabling member printed	Gavin Williamson
uin	192251
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p>The table below shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year for South Staffordshire District Council. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td><p><em>Calendar Year</em></p></td><td><p><em>Allowed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Split</em></p></td><td><p><em>Dismissed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>37</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>53</p></td><td><p>81</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>53</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>52</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Whilst the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></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	4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson

43015

registered interest
date	13/03/2014
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 applications to dispose of statutory allotments have been (a) submitted, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each local authority area in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
uin	191956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Further to the Allotments Act 1925, applications for consent to dispose of allotment land are submitted to the Department by local councils (parish councils and principal authorities). The table below shows the breakdown of applications since May 2010.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Granted</em></p></td><td><p><em>Withdrawn</em></p></td><td><p><em>Refused</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2010- March 2011</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15 to date</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To place this in context, the Secretary of State granted 34 allotment disposals in 2007, granted 22 in 2008 and granted 18 in 2009, whilst only 2 were declined, which is a greater rate than under this Administration.</p><p>I observe that the rt. hon. Member has been quoted in the media attacking such consents. He would have been wiser however to have undertaken a closer examination of the 68 individual consents granted to the local councils since May 2010.</p><p>The table below provides some context to help explain why there was a reasonable case by the representative local bodies for changing the statutory status of the land.</p><p>In January 2014, my Department published <em>Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and Alternatives</em> replacing the previous guidance from 2002. The new guidance strengthens allotment protection, as the requirement for waiting lists to be taken into account must now be rigorously applied to all that council's waiting lists, not just the waiting list for the site to be disposed of. This aims to ensure that poorly maintained sites are not used to justify disposal. Ministers will be closely monitoring to ensure that this new guidance is followed.</p><p>Notwithstanding, I have taken the opportunity to analyse these previous cases in the table below. The National Allotment Society was consulted in every case, and nine out of ten decisions were consistent with advice from the National Allotment Society (where advice was given); the remaining cases where the advice diverged related to land not actually in use as allotments, requiring a judgement call on whether it was realistic to bring the land back into productive use.</p><p>Having analysed these approvals, I can note that half of the land disposed was not actually in use as allotments. Moreover, in every case where existing allotment plot holders were displaced, evidence from local authorities indicates that alternative plots were made available to them.</p><p>More new plots were proposed to be created and/or vacant sites proposed to be brought back into use than the number of proposed disposals of in-use allotment plots. Consequently, the statutory disposal process overseen by the Secretary of State since May 2010 should have resulted in an <strong>increase</strong> in allotment provision not a reduction. This reflects this Government's commitment both to supporting local communities grow their own food and to protecting important community assets.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 196310 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams attachment 1 file name 2269 & 2521 Benn - Table.docx title Allotments - Disposal Consents Granted
tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

43021

registered interest
date	13/03/2014
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 (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and (ii) Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	192143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p>The table below shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td><p><em>Council</em></p></td><td><p><em>Calendar Year</em></p></td><td><p><em>Allowed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Split</em></p></td><td><p><em>Dismissed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Stockport</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Tameside</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Whilst the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the absolute number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.</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	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne