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228517

registered interest
date	19/03/2015
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	Armed Forces Covenant
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 the effect of changes in funding to local authorities on their ability to support Armed Forces Community Covenants.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	228485
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2015 answer text <p>Local authorities share in our national commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, and have signed Community Covenants committing to support the Armed Forces community in their area and promote understanding amongst local people. Local councils and residents will know the needs of their communities and can decide their spending priorities appropriately.<br><br>We have introduced a number of measures over the last few years as contribution towards meeting the objectives of the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure that the Armed Forces Community does not face disadvantage, patricularly in housing. This includes:<br><br><strong>Funding for local authorities</strong><br><br>We have set aside £200,000 in 2014/15 from the annual Disabled Facilities Grant funding for local authorities to fund home adaptations (eg ramps, walk-in showers, stairlifts) to meet the needs of disabled ex-service personnel who wish to live independently in their homes.<br><br>We have provided grants (totalling over £1 million) with MOD, to a small number of local authorities in 2011 and 2012 to support the successful integration of retired Gurkha soldiers who wished to settle in the UK.<br><br><strong>Improved access to social housing</strong><br><br>We have introduced protection to ensure that former and current Service personnel are not disadvantaged in accessing social housing because of the disadvantages of military life. We have made sure that seriously injured personnel and former members of the Armed Forces with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing, and that serving personnel and those who have recently been discharged do not lose their qualification rights because of the requirement to move from base to base.<br><br>We have also encouraged local authorities to, in general, give sympathetic consideration to the housing needs of family members of serving or former Service personnel.<br><br><strong>Preventing homelessness</strong><br><br>We have introduced measures to provide support for specialist accommodation for veterans, and work with councils to prevent homelessness. We have also introduced initiatives such as Streetlink and No Second Night Out which ensure that when veterans end up sleeping rough they are offered care and support from local services.<br><br><strong>Access to home ownership</strong><br><br>Members of the Armed Forces have been given priority for Government-funded shared ownership schemes and are able to access Help to Buy: equity loan scheme. The priority status can be transferred to bereaved spouses or civil partners. We have also worked with MOD, credit reference agencies, and Royal Mail to standardise Forces' Post Office addresses so personnel are not disadvantaged when applying for mortgages.<br><br></p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 24/03/2015 12:04:46 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

226440

registered interest
date	10/03/2015
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	Refuges: Domestic Abuse
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 his Department is taking to ensure that victims of domestic violence are able to seek immediate refuge away from their home.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	227064
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2015 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting vulnerable victims of domestic abuse and we recognise the key role refuges play in keeping victims of domestic abuse and their children safe. This is why we have in place clear duties to ensure vulnerable victims of domestic abuse who have fled their homes are provided with accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided £10 million to 148 areas across England to help maintain a resilient national network of refuges to ensure victims domestic abuse get the help and support they need. This funding will improve the level and quality of support in existing refuges as well as increasing the number of bed spaces across England.</p><p> </p><p>This is complemented by new statutory guidance on homelessness and domestic abuse that sets out the level of support that victims can expect to receive in refuges. It makes clear that refuges should offer support to all victims and not just those living locally.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support for victims of domestic abuse. Some victims will be accommodated in refuges, but Sanctuary Schemes and mainstream local authority accommodation may be an option for others. Since 2010 Sanctuary Schemes have prevented over 20,000 households from becoming homeless. They provide professionally installed security measures, with appropriate support, to allow those experiencing domestic violence to remain in their own accommodation where it is safe for them to do so, where it is their choice and when the perpetrator no longer lives there.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to fund Women’s Aid to run UKRefugesOnline, a UK wide database of domestic abuse services, for 2015-16 so that those looking to find a safe place and the appropriate support can do so as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p>We have also invested over £500 million to tackle and prevent homelessness and rough sleeping since 2010 and a proportion of this will be used to support victims of domestic abuse. This funding is in addition to the £6.5 billion that the Government has provided in housing related support over this spending review period to help the most vulnerable people, including victims of domestic abuse.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 16/03/2015 09:52:47 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

223839

registered interest
date	26/02/2015
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	New Businesses: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to coalfield communities to help develop new businesses; and what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which will be created as a result of such initiatives.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	225584
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Communities and Local Government has funded the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Coalfields Enterprise and Growth Funds and the Homes and Communities Agency’s coalfield projects. Based on information provided by these sources, 38 businesses have been developed and over 25,000 jobs have been created or safeguarded.</p><p>The Coalfields Regeneration Trust has a history of supporting communities through the provision of training and health programmes, community assets, and small grants. Going forward, they have been allowed to invest in property assets to generate income and growth. They will also be providing small start-up loans and supporting people to make the most of employment opportunities.</p><p>We have created Enterprise Zones in former a number of former coalfield areas – in Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Kent and the Tees Valley – all helping to create growth in former Coalfield communities. For example, the Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone aims to create 14,000 jobs by 2020 and has sites on former collieries. The Orgreave colliery and coking plant is now transformed into a centre for advanced manufacturing and Markham Vale is benefitting from capital grant funding to develop the successful business park. The Government has invested nearly £12 million into local infrastructure - £1.8 million investment in Sheffield Business Park Phase 2 and £10 million in the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 03/03/2015 17:03:59 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

177798

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
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	Local Government Services
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 advertising budget is for his Department's Local Digital campaign; and how much has been spent in the last 24 months on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising mentioning Local Digital.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	223466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2015 answer text <p>The Local Digital Campaign has no advertising budget from DCLG, and there was no departmental spending on advertising for the campaign on television, newspaper, online, radio or another form in the last 24 months. The campaign does have an online presence – as befitting the subject of the campaign – but this is wholly paid for by private sector sponsors.<br><br></p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 09/02/2015 15:21:38 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

177392

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
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, how his Department defines what constitutes affordable housing.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	223248
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2015 answer text <p>The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (sections 68 – 70) defines social housing as low cost rental accommodation and low cost home ownership accommodation. In the Act, a low cost rent is simply defined as below the market rate. Low cost home ownership is defined by its availability for occupation on a shared ownership or equity percentage basis. This provides flexibility to support a range of people with different housing needs through our affordable housing programmes.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of affordable housing as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework is as follows:</p><p>&quot; Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.</p><p>Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.</p><p>Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).</p><p>Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing.</p><p>Homes that do not meet the above definition of affordable housing, such as &quot;low cost market&quot; housing, may not be considered as affordable housing for planning purposes. &quot;</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 09/02/2015 15:27:02 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

177393

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
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: Construction
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 affordable houses have been built in each region in each year since May 2010.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	223249
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2015 answer text <p>Annual statistics on additional affordable housing provided in each local authority area in England are published in the Department’s live table 1008, which is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These statistics include both newly built housing and acquisitions.<br><br></p><p>My Department does not produce regional statistics.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 09/02/2015 15:33:13 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

176151

registered interest
date	27/01/2015
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	Refuges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of refuges for women victims of domestic violence that have closed in each year since May 2010.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	222340
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>This Department does not make estimates of the number of refuge places for those fleeing domestic abuse. Decisions on the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are for local authorities. We expect local authorities to commission services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst Government does not directly fund domestic abuse refuges this Government has provided £6.5 billion to help vulnerable people through housing related support. A proportion of this money will be used by local authorities to commission refuge services. In addition we have made over £500 million available since 2010 to local authorities and the voluntary sector to prevent and tackle homelessness and rough sleeping including support for victims of domestic abuse.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2014 we made available £10 million (2014-16) for local authorities, working with specialist domestic abuse service providers, to stop the closure of refuges and improve and grow existing provision. We also issued new statutory guidance that makes clear the practice of providing refuge to support only to local victims is unacceptable and which set out clear standards that refuges services should meet.</p><p> </p><p>The dynamics of domestic abuse mean that accommodation can play an important role in the resolution of interpersonal abuse and conflict. This is why the homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and for vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.</p><p> </p><p>We also fund 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>In addition, this Government has ring-fenced nearly £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. More recently we have added an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill at Commons Committee stage to create a new offence of domestic abuse. The amendment closes the gap in the current legal framework to capture repeated or continuous coercive and controlling behaviour, specifically where that behaviour takes place in an ongoing intimate partner or inter-familial relationship.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 02/02/2015 16:28:41 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

175777

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
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	Refuges
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 estimate he has made of the number of places in refuges for women fleeing domestic violence in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	222072
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2015 answer text <p>This Department does not make estimates of the number of refuge places for those fleeing domestic abuse. Decisions on the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are for local authorities. We expect local authorities to commission services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.</p><p> </p><p>Government does not directly fund domestic abuse refuges, however, this Government has invested £6.5 billion to help vulnerable people through housing related support. A proportion of this money will be used by local authorities to commission refuge services. In addition we have made over £500 million available since 2010 to local authorities and the voluntary sector to prevent and tackle homelessness and rough sleeping including support for victims of domestic abuse.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2014 we made available £10 million (2014-16) for local authorities, working with specialist domestic abuse service providers, to stop the closure of refuges and improve and grow existing provision. We also issued new statutory guidance that makes clear the practice of providing refuge to support only to local victims is unacceptable and which set out clear standards that refuges services should meet.</p><p> </p><p>The dynamics of domestic abuse mean that accommodation can play an important role in the resolution of interpersonal abuse and conflict. This is why the homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and for vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.</p><p> </p><p>We also fund 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>In addition, this Government has ring-fenced nearly £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. More recently we have added an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill at Commons Committee stage to create a new offence of domestic abuse. The amendment closes the gap in the current legal framework to capture repeated or continuous coercive and controlling behaviour, specifically where that behaviour takes place in an ongoing intimate partner or inter-familial relationship.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 29/01/2015 13:47:01 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

174677

registered interest
date	20/01/2015
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	Race Relations
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 promote tolerance of different minorities.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	221305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2015 answer text <p>Our approach to promoting tolerance of different minorities is through supporting integration in communities. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 December 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, Columns 110-118WS, which details my Department's integration approach, as well as current integration projects and activities.</p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams question first answered 05/02/2015 12:56:18 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams previous answer version 39961 answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

174368

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	Community Relations
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 his Department is taking to promote religious and ethnic tolerance and understanding.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	221194
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Our approach to promoting religious and ethnic tolerance and understanding, is through supporting integration in communities. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 December 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, Columns 110-118WS, which details my Department's integration approach, as well as current integration projects and activities.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams question first answered 26/01/2015 16:47:16 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams previous answer version 39796 answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis