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155670

registered interest
date	17/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Travellers: Caravan Sites
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many planning and enforcement appeals involving Gypsy sites in the Green Belt were allowed between February 2006 and March 2012; and how many of those related to temporary permissions.
tabling member printed	Lord Avebury
uin	HL2854
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>The total number of appeals relating to traveller cases in the Green Belt between February 2006 and March 2012 is 378. Of those, 192 were allowed (51%).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Planning Inspectorate does not collect data on how many permissions were temporary or permanent.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Planning policy on traveller sites was intentionally changed in March 2012, to give greater emphasis to the protection of the countryside and Green Belt, and discouraging both temporary and permanent permissions in the Green Belt. This is part of the Coalition Agreement pledge to safeguard the Green Belt.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As laid out in statements to Parliament, Ministers have also amended the recovery policy to consider more appeals on traveller sites and the Green Belt. We are currently considering responses to our consultation on further proposed amendments to planning policy and guidance, including further strengthening protection of the countryside.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 01/12/2014 12:58:42 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	1665 label Biography information for Lord Avebury

155355

registered interest
date	11/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Crime: Statistics
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect on community relations with citizens of Asian origin of crime reporting referring to "the Asian community" without further specifying the group concerned.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL2813
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>No such assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>As a broader observation, it is important to recognise that the recent horrific sexual grooming crimes in Rochdale and Rotherham were committed by a small minority of men drawn from a British Pakistani background, whilst in Bristol most recently the convictions were of men drawn from a Somali background. I welcome both communities strongly condemning these vile acts, as it tarnishes their reputation. However, such criminal acts were compounded by a failure of public authorities to take action because of institutionalised political correctness.</p><p> </p><p>We need to tackle this head on – acknowledging that there is a criminal element in some communities; that there is a sexist mindset that allowed these men to prey on vulnerable women of all backgrounds; and that the authorities shied away from tackling such crimes.</p><p> </p><p>If we fail to do so, it will merely help extremists hijack and exploit the issue for their own ends, undermining our strong community relations, whilst they seek to spread divisions and mistrust.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 01/12/2014 12:55:23 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

147376

registered interest
date	10/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Refuges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 October (HL2419), why they do not centrally record the number or location of refuges in England; and what consideration they have given to collecting such records as a means to developing nationwide policy.
tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
uin	HL2780
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>My Department funds UKRefugesOnline a UK-wide database of domestic violence services which supports the national 24 hour free phone domestic violence helpline. This service enables those working with victims of domestic violence to identify appropriate services and potential refuge vacancies around the country so that victims can get the help they need as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In terms of government records, such information has never been centrally held. Refuges are not commissioned at a national level, and are generally either provided by local authorities or by independent voluntary sector organisations. To start recording the number and location would involve creating a new monitoring and data reporting regime on local government. It is the broader policy of the Coalition Government to try to reduce the burden of data reporting on local government, as it costs taxpayers’ money and diverts resources away from frontline services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More broadly, this Government has secured £6.5 billion investment to help vulnerable people through housing related support. This forms a key element of refuge funding through local authority commissioned services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have also allocated £40 million of funding for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services until 2015. This funding is used to part-fund 54 multi-agency risk assessment conference co-ordinators and 144 independent domestic violence advisers. We have piloted and rolled out Clare’s Law and domestic violence protection orders; extended the definition of domestic abuse to cover controlling behaviour and teenage relationships; run two successful campaigns to challenge perceptions of abuse; and placed Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing to make sure lessons are learned from individual tragedies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are keeping this matter under review, and are keen to support best practice and greater joint working.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 18/11/2014 14:11:28 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

147377

registered interest
date	10/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Local Government: Cheshire
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to reconstitute the former Cheshire County Council by bringing together the unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East.
tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
uin	HL2781
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>There are no plans to bring together the unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. Such resource intensive and disruptive restructuring of local government would be an unnecessary distraction. The two Cheshire councils already have the legal powers to share services and work together if they wish, and they do not need the Government’s permission to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The Tri-Borough initiative in London is a good locally-led example of how councils can work together to improve services and delivery savings without the need for local government restructuring.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 17/11/2014 12:03:32 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

147396

registered interest
date	10/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Council Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action are they taking to support council tenants who want to form housing cooperatives.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2800
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>We encourage local authorities to work closely with their communities to look at the range of options open to them. This may include forming community led groups, such as co-operatives, Community Land Trusts or Tenant Management Organisations. My officials continue to discuss issues affecting co-operative housing more generally with the co-operative sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Council tenants have the Right to Manage, which enables them to set up a Tenant Management Organisation (a management co-operative) to manage the homes in their area, with a management allowance from the Council. The Tenant Empowerment Programme, £2 million in 2014/15 and £1 million in 2015/16, supports social housing tenants to engage in, manage and/or take control of their housing services. This includes training, support and funding to enable tenant groups to take up their Right to Manage. There are currently over 200 Tenant Management Organisations across England, managing around 80,000 homes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In October 2012, we funded the Co-operatives UK to establish and run the Community Shares Unit to grow a sustainable market and promote the long term success of the community shares model, as a means to raising equity finance and increasing participation in community enterprises and projects. Community-led housing is one of the areas identified as requiring development.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are also encouraging community led organisations, including co-operatives, to apply for funding through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme. The Homes and Communities Agency has held back over 25% of their £1.7 billion budget, for which it is now inviting bids. This should be of particular help to smaller community-led organisations.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 20/11/2014 15:55:45 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

143456

registered interest
date	07/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Politics and Government: Greater London
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effectiveness of the current structures of governance in London.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2741
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>Since 2010, the Coalition Government has made a series of reforms which have decentralised power down to local government and down to local communities below it.</p><p> </p><p>This has included strengthening the governance structures in London at a variety of levels: by devolving power and funding over housing, economic development and the Olympic legacy to the Mayor and Assembly through the Localism Act 2011; by abolishing unelected bodies such as the Government Office for London and London Development Agency; supporting the creation of a London-wide economic partnership; and delivering a broader set of reforms to local government transparency, accountability, housing finance and local government finance which the London Boroughs in particular have benefited from.</p><p> </p><p>The London Enterprise Panel was established by the Mayor in 2012 in response to the Government’s invitation to areas to form Local Enterprise Partnerships. It provides a forum which enables the Mayor, London Boroughs and the private sector to work together to take a strategic view of regeneration, employment and skills in the capital. The Panel has successfully negotiated a growth deal which includes delivering £120 million of investment in London’s Further Education colleges and work to develop new ways to help those furthest from the labour market into work.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in the Government response to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee Report: <em>Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the Greater London Authority Act 2007 and the London Assembly</em> (Cm 8761), the Government believes there is scope for governance reform in the relation to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers have serious concerns about the governance in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets following an independent inspection report, and are consulting the council on the report and a proposed package of interventions as outlined in the Oral Statement of 4 November 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, House of Commons, Column 663.</p><p> </p><p>The Coalition Government considers that power should be devolved to the lowest appropriate level including to communities and individuals. For instance, we have introduced powers for local communities in London to establish neighbourhood forums to take forward neighbourhood planning and introduced a range of ‘community rights’ such as the Community Right to Challenge and the Community Right to Bid for Assets of Community Value.</p><p> </p><p>Parish councils can also provide communities with a democratically accountable voice and a structure for taking community action. London saw its first parish council in decades have its first elections in May 2014, in Queens Park, Westminster. A number of other local communities in London are now campaigning for parish councils to be set up. The Government is also making it easier to set up new town and parish councils where they do not currently exist and is seeking to amend legislation to do so.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 20/11/2014 15:18:11 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

114482

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
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
hansard heading	Wind Power: Planning Permission
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 5 November (HL2193), about planning applications for land-based wind turbines, how many planning applications were called in for decision by the Secretary of State in the last 12 months and how they were disposed of in each case.
tabling member printed	Lord Avebury
uin	HL2668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>In the last 12 months three planning applications for land based wind turbine development have been called in for determination by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Following call in, two of the applications were withdrawn and a public inquiry on the third is due in early 2015. All three followed requests by local or neighbouring Members of Parliament to call in the applications.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 18/11/2014 14:28:22 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	1665 label Biography information for Lord Avebury

101682

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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
hansard heading	Travellers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions have been taken in pursuance of the commitments undertaken by the Ministerial Working Group on tacking inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in their progress report of April 2012; and what further meetings have taken place, with what outcomes, since that date.
tabling member printed	Lord Avebury
uin	HL2504
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>The Ministerial Working Group on Gypsies and Travellers was convened as an ad hoc meeting to discuss inequalities experienced by the Gypsy and Traveller community. This working group resulted in the publication of a progress report which included 28 commitments made by the Departments represented on it, with the aim of helping mainstream services work more effectively with Gypsies and Travellers.</p><p> </p><p>Since the report, Ministers have not needed to meet to implement the agreed policy, as this has been delegated to the Civil Service. There have been regular meetings between Gypsy and Traveller organisations and officials across Whitehall to discuss the progress made against the Government’s commitments, and wider action to improve the social outcomes of Gypsies and Travellers. We intend to publish a follow up report in due course.</p><p> </p><p>I have deposited in the Library of the House a document with a summary of progress so far against each of the 28 commitments with links to where further information can be found.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 11/11/2014 12:51:59 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon attachment 1 file name Gypsies and Travellers commitments -DEPOSITEDPAPER-455504 (HL2504).doc title 28 Commitments
tabling member	1665 label Biography information for Lord Avebury

101694

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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
hansard heading	Coastal Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action are they taking to deal with the problems faced by coastal communities.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2516
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>This Government recognises that coastal communities face a range of economic, environmental and social challenges and is committed to making them better places to live, work and visit. We set up the Coastal Communities Fund in 2012 to support economic growth and jobs in coastal areas across the UK.</p><p><br>The Fund is open to public, private and voluntary sector applicants and supports a wide range of projects to help build stronger, more diverse coastal communities. They include schemes to improve infrastructure, regenerate seaside town centres and heritage and leisure facilities, provide skills, training and advice, and create workspace for new businesses and social enterprises.</p><p><br>To date, the Fund has provided £65 million in grants to 117 projects across UK, levering in over £103 million of other funding and delivering over 8,900 jobs, nearly 4,000 training places and apprenticeships over 400 new business start-ups.</p><p><br>Coastal Communities are also benefitting from the changes we’re making to local areas to take control and act in the best interests of their local community through a wide range of powers, freedoms and flexibilities to help drive growth and jobs. Nineteen of the 39 joint local authority/ private sector led Local Enterprise Partnerships cover coastal areas. As part of the Growth Deals announced in July we have committed over £500 million to projects put forward by the coastal Local Enterprise Partnerships.</p><p><br>Eight out of the 24 Enterprise Zones the Government has created in Local Enterprise Partnerships include coastal locations. These coastal Enterprise Zones have delivered nearly 5,000 jobs to date and secured over £200 million of private investment.</p><p> </p><p>We have enabled local areas to adapt their high streets to meet changing consumer demands by funding 8 Portas Pilots and over 50 Town Teams in coastal towns.</p><p><br>We are also on course to invest more than £3.2 billion in flood and coastal erosion risk management works in England from April 2010 to March 2015. This funding will improve forecasting and early warning systems, maintain flood defences and improve flood protection for 165,000 households.</p><p><br>In July, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Penny Mordaunt) was appointed as Minister for Coastal Communities to help coastal places realise their potential and build a sustainable future for themselves.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 05/11/2014 13:13:38 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

101699

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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
hansard heading	Local Government Services: Migrants
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment have they made of the costs to local authorities of providing housing and other services to people with no other recourse to public funds.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2521
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government does not hold a national estimate of the costs to local authorities of providing housing and other services to people with No Recourse to Public Funds.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 17/11/2014 12:04:07 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark