argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
High Streets (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Amanda Anne Milling (Conservative, Centre-right): In the next week I will be launching my annual best shop and market stall competition, with a new category—best café—this year. Will my hon. Friend join me in wishing all the entrants the best of luck, and does he agree that independent outlets are key to creating a unique and thriving town centre?
High Streets (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend on this excellent competition. I look forward to hearing the results, and pay tribute to all the work she is doing. Independent retailers are central to the success of many of our high streets and I pay tribute to the work they do. They of course will benefit from the small business rate cut that we have announced.
High Streets (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (Conservative, Centre-right): We have some beautiful high streets in Corby and East Northamptonshire, and our pubs are an integral part of them. What steps are Ministers taking to help to promote our pub trade and ensure that these vital community hubs are protected?
High Streets (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, the business rate cut is of significant value to many of our pubs. A huge number of tourists coming to the UK list a visit to a great British pub among their desires for their trip. That is why we made the changes we did to beer duty.
Empty Homes (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Henry Edward Millar Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Protecting green spaces and providing new homes are both important. What further steps can the Government take to ensure that empty homes are reutilised, notwithstanding the fact that they have already reduced the number of empty homes to an extremely low level?
Empty Homes (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): Local authorities have strong incentives. They earn the same financial reward through the new homes bonus for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. They also have strong enforcement powers. They can charge up to 150% council tax for homes that have been empty for more than two years and apply empty dwelling management orders to force owners to bring properties back into use.
Empty Homes (England) — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Michael Mark Prisk (Conservative, Centre-right): In our town centres there are thousands of empty rooms on upper floors that could easily be converted into homes, yet they do not appear in the now excellent statistics to which the Minister refers. Will he bring together the key stakeholders and agencies to look at what the real barriers are that have meant that Governments of all hues have failed to achieve that conversion?
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government continue to reform the planning system. We have set out our clear intent to intervene on those councils that do not have an up-to-date plan. We have legislated to ensure that the planning system delivers starter homes for first-time buyers, as well as affordable homes for people wanting to rent.
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): The Housing and Planning Act does no such thing. The hon. Lady’s question made it clear that she was interested in more affordable homes for people to rent or buy. The Act requires developers to provide affordable starter homes for first-time buyers, but there will still absolutely be a determination to deliver affordable homes for rent. I look forward to visiting Greater Manchester shortly to discuss these matters.
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): Developments such as Chapel Hill in my constituency will have 40% affordable homes. Does not that show that the planning system already gives local authorities the relevant powers they need, and that they should be using them in the same way as Conservative-led Basingstoke Borough Council?
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): I had the privilege of meeting the chief executive of my right hon. Friend’s council the other day, and I commend the council for its work. Her example clearly shows that our aim should be to deliver affordable homes to both buy and rent.
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: In Cumbria, we suffer from brain drain, as graduates do not want to return to us after university. Proper planning for affordable housing in the rural north could be the answer. As well as attracting young talent, that could take pressure off the London housing crisis. Will the Minister ensure that we do not have a one-size-fits-all planning policy for affordable housing?
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady for her excellent question. Too often, the housing problems that we face are portrayed as a problem for just London and the south-east. The Secretary of State, the ministerial team and I are clear that we need a housing policy that delivers more homes right across the country, and recognises the circumstances in different housing markets.
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: In Cumbria, we suffer from brain drain, as graduates do not want to return to us after university. Proper planning for affordable housing in the rural north could be the answer. As well as attracting young talent, that could take pressure off the London housing crisis. Will the Minister ensure that we do not have a one-size-fits-all planning policy for affordable housing?
Ben Howlett (Conservative, Centre-right): In Bath, all our brownfield sites will be developed by 2025 to 2030, with the only nearby sites being the brownfield land south of Bristol that has been left undeveloped for decades by the Labour council and Labour Mayor of Bristol. Does my hon. Friend agree that the changes in the last planning Act and the infrastructure Bill will make a huge difference to developing brownfield land across the whole of the south of Bristol and west of England?
Affordable Homes — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: In Cumbria, we suffer from brain drain, as graduates do not want to return to us after university. Proper planning for affordable housing in the rural north could be the answer. As well as attracting young talent, that could take pressure off the London housing crisis. Will the Minister ensure that we do not have a one-size-fits-all planning policy for affordable housing?
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. Brownfield registers and permission in principle can make a big contribution to ensuring that as much development as possible goes on to brownfield sites. The example he gives also shows the benefit of sometimes working across councils, as is happening in Greater Manchester, to plan for strategic housing needs.
Midlands Engine — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I had thought that the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) would require a degree of intellectual dexterity to relate the question to Leigh or Manchester, but he might have been saved by the Secretary of State’s referring, perhaps gratuitously, to all regions. I think that the right hon. Gentleman is a beneficiary of that.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced the £3 billion home building fund to ensure that we are not so reliant on a few large builders, and the £2 billion accelerated construction programme to speed up building on public land. We will be setting out further plans in a White Paper later this year.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): Havant Borough Council is working with communities to update our local plans to ensure that local housing needs are met strategically. Will the Minister join me in congratulating them on their work and welcome their commitment to ensuring that home ownership is within reach of everyone?
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): I am happy to do that. It was a pleasure to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency recently and to meet Councillor David Guest, who is leading this work on behalf of Havant Council, and the great housing associations First Wessex and Radian, which are doing great work in this field.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): Both the Secretary of State and I have made it very clear that we need more homes of every single kind in this country—more homes for people to buy on the market, more affordable homes for rent, and more shared ownership. I hope that the hon. Lady will therefore welcome the Government’s starter homes policy to ensure that developers provide starter homes for first-time buyers when they build out schemes.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): In Swindon, we have cross-party support for our local plan, and by working with developers in advance of the submission stage of planning, we are delivering the popular Tadpole Farm development. Will the Minister agree to visit Tadpole Farm to see what best practice we can share to deliver much needed new homes?
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): That would be a delight. It is good to hear in this Question Time about councils that are getting on with the business of developing local plans that meet the housing needs of their areas. I hope that all councils in England will follow that example.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: Will the Minister give some reasons why home ownership among people under 35 has fallen by more than a third of a million since 2010? What will he do to start reversing that trend so that people of my age are able to afford their first home?
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman uses an interesting timescale, because the fall in home ownership among the under-35s started in 2004-05 and the previous Labour Government did nothing about it. Indeed, the new shadow Minister said that he is not sure that he thinks that is such a bad thing. That decline was halted in the past year. The job that now falls to the Secretary of State and me is to reverse that decline so that young people have the chance to fulfil their dreams.
House Building — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: Will the Minister give some reasons why home ownership among people under 35 has fallen by more than a third of a million since 2010? What will he do to start reversing that trend so that people of my age are able to afford their first home?
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): Let us take care of the party politics first. The previous Prime Minister inherited from the previous Labour Government the lowest level of house building since the 1920s, but the number of homes being approved has now increased significantly. In the year to June, our planning system granted a record number of applications. However, if the hon. Lady wants to put aside the party politics and is saying that we need to do better and to build more homes, she will find complete agreement among this ministerial team.
Light Pollution — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The national planning policy framework is clear. Local planning policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution from artificial light, including the impact on intrinsically dark landscapes. Our March 2014 planning guidance sets out how light pollution should be considered in the planning system.
Light Pollution — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Other
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I usually expect most Labour local authorities to leave people in the dark, but on this occasion I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. I made a fantastic visit to Pitshanger Lane in his constituency not too long ago and I should be delighted to return at some point.
Building Regulations — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): We have not set out any formal plans to review the building regulations as a whole, but we have publicly committed ourselves to reviewing part B following the Lakanal House fire. During the passage of the Bill that became the Housing and Planning Act 2016, we made a commitment to review the energy-efficiency standards for buildings in part L.
Building Regulations — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): I have had a chance to review the hon. Gentleman’s private Member’s Bill. The Government do not agree that further legislation is necessary, but we certainly agree with him that there is a problem in this area. Indeed, last week we announced further powers to give councils the ability to deal with smaller houses in multiple occupation that are causing the kinds of issues that he has mentioned.
Supported Accommodation — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on homelessness of the decision to cap housing benefit for supported accommodation at local housing allowance rates.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are committed to protecting the vulnerable, including homeless people. That is why we deferred the implementation of the local housing allowance rates for supported housing until April 2019. From then on, we will provide a new funding model to meet additional housing costs above the local housing allowance rates.
Supported Accommodation — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on homelessness of the decision to cap housing benefit for supported accommodation at local housing allowance rates.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I have met the chief executive of the National Housing Federation and discussed this issue with him at some length. We are giving confidence to the sector that funding will be devolved to local authorities, and that that funding will be ring-fenced. Save for the changes to social rent increases, the quantum of funding to the sector will be the same. The chief executive seemed reasonably reassured on that point.
Supported Accommodation — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on homelessness of the decision to cap housing benefit for supported accommodation at local housing allowance rates.
Peter James Guy Aldous (Conservative, Centre-right): Following the statement made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green), on 15 September, it is vital that the consultation on the funding of supported housing should get under way as soon as possible. Can the Minister tell the House when it will commence?
Supported Accommodation — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on homelessness of the decision to cap housing benefit for supported accommodation at local housing allowance rates.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have just said, save for the social rent increases, the quantum of funding will be the same in this regard. We are setting out certainty, and we will certainly be doing that in the consultation, which will be released shortly.
Business Rates — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: If he will make it his policy to reverse the decision to introduce a business rate rise for organisations that seek to own and supply themselves with rooftop solar power.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I am aware that the rateable values of certain types of rooftop solar insulation are increasing under the revaluation. However, there are many factors that determine the rateable value of a property, and the installation of solar panels is only one element. Many will see an increase in the rateable value of their solar panels but see their overall rates bill reduced. That said, I hear what my hon. Friend has said and I am more than willing to meet him and local representatives of the industry.
Coastal Communities — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Public Lands
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a pleasure to see my hon. Friend in his place. We are all proud of our coastal communities. I say that as a Member representing a coastal community myself. We have already invested £125 million in coastal communities across the United Kingdom through the coastal communities fund, £92 million of which was invested in England. We want to go even further, and we have identified at least a further £90 million for local projects. The bidding for those funds has begun, and 40 projects have made it through to the next round. We will be making a decision on them early next year.
Coastal Communities — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Public Lands
Gordon Leonard Henderson (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister’s response and his kind words. The Queenborough Harbour Trust in my constituency has been successful in the stage 1 bidding process for obtaining a grant from the coastal communities fund. What advice would he give to the trust members as they enter stage 2 of the process, to ensure they get some success?
Coastal Communities — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his advocacy on behalf of the trust. It should seek guidance and support from its funding officer and its capital adviser who has been assigned to it by the Big Lottery Fund, which administers the coastal communities fund on our behalf. Advice is also available to it on the Big Lottery Fund website.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The recess was far from a quiet period in my Department. Earlier this month we announced the £5 billion of funding for new homes, we have continued to drive forward devolution deals, and we are in the process of offering councils extra certainty through four-year funding settlements, but there is plenty more to come, including the White Paper—and, if I am even daring to dream, the press pack outside No. 10 might stop confusing me with Sadiq Khan.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): We have huge plans in this area. One of the key objectives of the home building fund and the accelerated construction projects the Secretary of State announced at party conference is to encourage more use of offsite construction.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: North Devon Council and the coastal communities team have just heard that their bid for funding for Ilfracombe’s excellent new water sports centre has made it through to the next round. Will the Minister congratulate them and agree that this is an excellent example of this Government reinventing our coastal communities?
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course I agree with my hon. Friend’s compliments to the Government on this and wish Ilfracombe all the best. It has made it through to the final 40, and we will be making an announcement on the final fund early next year, so congratulations again.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: North Devon Council and the coastal communities team have just heard that their bid for funding for Ilfracombe’s excellent new water sports centre has made it through to the next round. Will the Minister congratulate them and agree that this is an excellent example of this Government reinventing our coastal communities?; The northern powerhouse project has brought much needed investment, attention and cohesion to northern cities like mine of Manchester. So why is it that many of the key players involved in the northern powerhouse project, including former Ministers, now feel that the programme has been all but cancelled?
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry, but that is complete and utter nonsense, and I have to say that if Opposition Members are really interested in the northern powerhouse, they should stop talking it down at every single opportunity and trashing it. We have delivered through the northern powerhouse a record number of enterprise zones and billions of pounds of investment in public transport projects across the north, and I know from my 10 years as a local government councillor in the north that that is a lot more than the Labour Government managed to do for the north during their time in power.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-10-24
Topic: Housing
Questions: North Devon Council and the coastal communities team have just heard that their bid for funding for Ilfracombe’s excellent new water sports centre has made it through to the next round. Will the Minister congratulate them and agree that this is an excellent example of this Government reinventing our coastal communities?; The northern powerhouse project has brought much needed investment, attention and cohesion to northern cities like mine of Manchester. So why is it that many of the key players involved in the northern powerhouse project, including former Ministers, now feel that the programme has been all but cancelled?; Local business rates retention will be a great boost for many local councils. What discussions has my hon. Friend had with local authorities about 100% retention?; The revaluation of property for business rates is creating uncertainty for businesses and local authorities. Stockton faces two different problems: small leisure businesses have been priced out of our town centre; and telecommunications companies are fighting their valuations, potentially knocking huge holes in the council’s budget. How will small businesses be protected? Will the Minister assure me that the 2017-18 finance settlement will take future valuations and changes into account so that Stockton Council will be no worse off?; The rapid growth in our elderly population is a key driver of housing demand, so what are the Government doing to ensure that we are building not only enough homes, but enough of the right homes for an ageing society?
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): The national planning policy framework requires councils to plan for a mix of housing, but my hon. Friend makes a good point. It is important not only to get the right housing for our elderly population, but to release crucial family housing and to boost the second-hand market, allowing developers to build more homes.