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1132063

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the rural sparsity factor in the calculation of Government support for rural areas; and if he will ensure that changes can be incorporated within the delivery of the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	264312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s aim is to increase local government’s retention of business rates from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. To ensure the increase in business rates retention is fiscally neutral, some existing grants (including the Rural Services Delivery Grant) will be devolved to local authorities so that these responsibilities are funded through retained business rates. We recognise that some redistribution of business rates between authorities will continue to be necessary to ensure that no council loses out if it is unable to collect enough business rates locally to meet its needs. We are therefore undertaking a review of local authorities’ relative needs and resources to determine the basis on which redistribution will take place in the new system.</p><p>The review of relative needs and resources will set fresh baseline funding levels for councils in England, and we are working closely with local government representatives and others to examine all of the available evidence for the costs faced by authorities, including how geographical features such as rurality and density affect the cost of delivering services across the country, and how to account for these in a robust manner. In December 2018 we published a consultation paper that set out a proposed ‘Area Cost Adjustment’ methodology to account for these factors. This included consideration of how levels of 'accessibility' and 'remoteness' - the impact of journey times on labour and procurement costs - might account for the additional costs associated with sparsity, isolation or market size. For example, local authorities with longer journey times from service points to households may have to pay their staff (e.g. on domiciliary care visits) for more hours in order to deliver an equivalent level of service.</p><p>In developing this innovative new approach, we have worked closely with both local government and other government departments, including the Department for Transport and DEFRA as champions for rural proofing. Our most recent consultation closed on 21 February and we are considering the many representations made in response, before taking further decisions on the shape of the review.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:36:33 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1129618

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Environmental Health and Trading Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to increase the number of (a) environmental health officers and (b) trading standards officers after the UK leaves the EU.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	259844
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The local staffing for the delivery of regulatory services is a matter for those local authorities that have the statutory responsibility. Government has provided resources and support for councils for Brexit preparations. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has made £58 million available to help councils prepare for and manage EU exit. The FSA has already made £4 million available in total so far (£2 million in 18/19, and £2 million in 19/20) for ensuring that food safety obligations are met in the event of a no deal Exit. DEFRA made 200 free training places available to help with the signing of Environmental Health Certificates.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 10/06/2019 11:40:42 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1024743

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Unitary Councils
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authority areas have (a) achieved and (b) sought unitary status in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	202033
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>Whilst to date since 2010 no local authority areas have achieved unitary status, two new unitary councils will be established in Dorset on 1 April 2019, we have announced that subject to Parliamentary approval a new unitary council for Buckinghamshire will be established on 1 April 2020, and we are currently consulting on a proposal made by seven councils in Northamptonshire to establish two new unitary councils covering that county on 1 April 2020. In addition to these areas since 2010 certain councils in Oxfordshire have made a proposal for unitary status for that county which is not being pursued.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/12/2018 16:26:07 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1024744

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Unitary Councils
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the benefits secured by local authority areas that have moved to unitary status.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	202034
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government has made no recent assessment of the benefits secured by local authority areas that have moved to unitary status, but is aware of certain independent reports which have made such assessments. These include a report commissioned by the County Councils Network and authored by Phil Swann in 2016 called “Learning the Lessons from Local Government Reorganisation - An Independent Study“, which found that larger unitary councils are most likely to be able to generate economies of scale, be resilient, and be able to take strategic decisions in an integrated way with the broader public sector.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/12/2018 16:25:00 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1010291

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Independent Mental Health Advocates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness with which local authorities undertake their duty to provide independent advocacy services to people subject to the Mental Health Act 1983; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	192714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2018 answer text <p>Under the Mental Health Act 1983, and as set out in the Code of Practice , local authorities have a duty to ensure timely access to appropriately trained independent mental health advocates and ensure that patients are informed of the support that an advocate can provide. I have not assessed the effectiveness with which local authorities provide independent advocacy services; policy responsibility for the Mental Health Act 1983 and for the provision of independent mental health advocates lies with the Department of Health and Social Care<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 22/11/2018 14:08:44 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew