The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether a five per cent VAT rate could continue to apply to solar PV and solar thermal within the terms of the EU’s VAT directive and the judgment of the European Court of Justice on that matter.
Mr David Gauke
The Government has recently consulted on this matter, the results of which will be announced shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of adapted properties in England.
Brandon Lewis
Most recent data on the number of homes with adaptations that met the requirements of one or more occupants with a long term illness or disability will be available in the 2014-15 English Housing Survey, due for publication in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cost of acquiring a Certificate in Professional Competence on access to such certificates for young people.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport has not made any assessments on the effect of the cost of acquiring a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) on access to such Certificates for young people.
In order to allow newly qualified drivers to gain experience, the department allows those who have passed the theory test (module one) and practical driving test (module three) to enrol on an approved National Vocational Training (NVT) programme and defer taking the Driver CPC theory and practical tests. This allows a driver to work professionally for up to 12 months whilst working towards a Driver CPC qualification.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many disabled social housing residents have moved out of their property in each year since 2009-10.
Brandon Lewis
The number of disabled social housing tenants (including housing association tenants) who have moved out of their property in each year since 2005-6 is shown in the attached table.
These figures show that the number of social tenants who have moved has fluctuated over time, but the proportion of social renters who have moved has remained relatively constant.
The reasons for these moves are not known although we expect some disabled social tenants will have moved to better (e.g. adapted) accommodation. Some will have moved from a different tenure i.e.from owner occupation or the private rented sector), while others will have moved from another social housing property.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.
Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.
Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.
Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.
We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides for domestic violence victims unable to provide documentation and information on previous tenancies to help them secure new tenancies.
Mr Marcus Jones
Victims of domestic abuse who are staying in a refuge or hostel are exempt from the Right to Rent scheme checks. Those not in a hostel or refuge can also use a number of less standard documents to prove their right to rent.
Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that no one is turned away from the support they need. In the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy published on 8 March, we set out our ambition to improve services for women suffering from domestic abuse, committing to a new Statement of Expectations to set out for the first time what we expect from local areas. To support this, we are launching a new two year fund for refuges and other forms of accommodation based support and to help local areas take the steps they need to meet the National Statement.
In last year’s Spending Review we secured new, dedicated funding of £40 million to support victims of domestic abuse. This builds on the £3.5 million funding in 2015/16 and is on top of the £10 million funding to strengthen the provision of safe accommodation in the last spending review period. Since 2003, the Government has provided funding to UKRefugesOnline to help victims of domestic abuse access the help and support they need.
There are a number of accommodation options for victims of domestic abuse. The Homelessness Code of Guidance for local authorities outlines the type of housing related and other support services that might be required. When making decisions, local authorities should sensitively consider which are the most appropriate options for each person on a case by case basis taking account of their individual needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses in the Humber area of the shortage of Certificate of Professional Competence qualified drivers.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport has not made any assessment on the economic effect of a potential driver shortage specific to the Humber area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in the level of services provided by housing associations to tenants since 2013.
Brandon Lewis
As independent providers of social housing, it is for housing associations to decide on the level of services they wish to provide to their tenants.
Housing associations are regulated by the Social Housing Regulator against its standards framework; where there are issues of non-compliance with the regulatory standards the Regulator has powers to intervene.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her oral contribution of 2 March 2016 to the Ninth Delegated Legislation Committee on the draft Renewables Obligation Closure Etc. (Amendment) Order 2016, what the evidential basis is for the statement that, with reference to the solar industry, it is not true to say that there are thousands of job losses and that there will be thousands more.
Andrea Leadsom
We see a strong future for solar PV in the UK.
In order to support the path to subsidy-free solar deployment, we have decided to keep the Feed-in-Tariff scheme open, and expect that the scheme could support 15,000-23,000 jobs in the sector. There will continue to be jobs in the operation and maintenance of existing solar installations.
We also expect subsidy-free solar to be an increasingly attractive option. Lightsource, the biggest solar developer in the UK, have said publically that they will be installing and connecting subsidy-free sites in 2016.
Support for solar comes directly from people’s bills, so when costs come down, so should support. Therefore we have taken steps to control the costs of support schemes and put solar on a path to delivering without subsidy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people who require adapted housing in England in 2016-17.
Brandon Lewis
The Government recognises the critical importance housing adaptations have in sustaining wellbeing and helping older and disabled people to live independently. Since 2010 we have invested over £1 billion in the Disabled Facilities Grant, providing around 250,000 adaptations to older and disabled people’s homes in England. We secured a year on year increase for the Disabled Facilities Grant over the Spending Review, meaning that the grant will increase 79% in 2016-17 to £394 million, rising to over £500 million by 2020.
We also acknowledged the vital part adaptations play in the integration of housing, health and social care by incorporating Disabled Facilities Grant into the Better Care Fund in 2015.
Most recent data on the number of homes needing adaptations will be available in the 2014-15 English Housing Survey, due for publication in July 2016.