Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Earl of Lytton, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to make provision for the resolution of disputes concerning the location or placement of boundaries and private rights of way relating to the title of an estate in land; and for connected purposes
Earl of Lytton has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Government remains committed to implementing all remaining provisions of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 before the end of 2024. Departmental officials have been prioritising delivery of important measures to help deployment based on extensive engagement with operators, site providers and other stakeholders.
The policy team responsible for the implementation of the PSTI Act, amongst a number of other priorities, is currently staffed by five policy officials below Senior Civil Servant grade, who are supported by legal resource as required.
The team also covers other policy areas, including local authority engagement and street works issues relating to broadband.
The team provides updates to stakeholders on the implementation of the PSTI Act as part of regular, ongoing stakeholder engagement; and recently held two series of roundtable discussions for stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of the PSTI Act in July and September 2023. PSTI Act implementation is raised in many other stakeholder meetings as part of our wider agenda.
Due to the complex nature of the provisions of the PSTI Act that relate to the renewal of relevant leases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and their interaction with the backdating of rent under that legislation, no final decision has been taken on transitional provisions. However, backdated payments were raised as a key concern during Parliamentary passage, and are something the Department is considering closely. The Department undertook to look carefully at the potential impacts of the backdating of rent when considering the commencement of these provisions and any transitional provisions, and this work is ongoing.
The Government remains committed to implementing all remaining provisions of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 before the end of 2024. Departmental officials have been prioritising delivery of important measures to help deployment based on extensive engagement with operators, site providers and other stakeholders.
The policy team responsible for the implementation of the PSTI Act, amongst a number of other priorities, is currently staffed by five policy officials below Senior Civil Servant grade, who are supported by legal resource as required.
The team also covers other policy areas, including local authority engagement and street works issues relating to broadband.
The team provides updates to stakeholders on the implementation of the PSTI Act as part of regular, ongoing stakeholder engagement; and recently held two series of roundtable discussions for stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of the PSTI Act in July and September 2023. PSTI Act implementation is raised in many other stakeholder meetings as part of our wider agenda.
Due to the complex nature of the provisions of the PSTI Act that relate to the renewal of relevant leases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and their interaction with the backdating of rent under that legislation, no final decision has been taken on transitional provisions. However, backdated payments were raised as a key concern during Parliamentary passage, and are something the Department is considering closely. The Department undertook to look carefully at the potential impacts of the backdating of rent when considering the commencement of these provisions and any transitional provisions, and this work is ongoing.
The Government remains committed to implementing all remaining provisions of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 before the end of 2024. Departmental officials have been prioritising delivery of important measures to help deployment based on extensive engagement with operators, site providers and other stakeholders.
The policy team responsible for the implementation of the PSTI Act, amongst a number of other priorities, is currently staffed by five policy officials below Senior Civil Servant grade, who are supported by legal resource as required.
The team also covers other policy areas, including local authority engagement and street works issues relating to broadband.
The team provides updates to stakeholders on the implementation of the PSTI Act as part of regular, ongoing stakeholder engagement; and recently held two series of roundtable discussions for stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of the PSTI Act in July and September 2023. PSTI Act implementation is raised in many other stakeholder meetings as part of our wider agenda.
Due to the complex nature of the provisions of the PSTI Act that relate to the renewal of relevant leases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and their interaction with the backdating of rent under that legislation, no final decision has been taken on transitional provisions. However, backdated payments were raised as a key concern during Parliamentary passage, and are something the Department is considering closely. The Department undertook to look carefully at the potential impacts of the backdating of rent when considering the commencement of these provisions and any transitional provisions, and this work is ongoing.
The Government remains committed to implementing all remaining provisions of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 before the end of 2024. Departmental officials have been prioritising delivery of important measures to help deployment based on extensive engagement with operators, site providers and other stakeholders.
The policy team responsible for the implementation of the PSTI Act, amongst a number of other priorities, is currently staffed by five policy officials below Senior Civil Servant grade, who are supported by legal resource as required.
The team also covers other policy areas, including local authority engagement and street works issues relating to broadband.
The team provides updates to stakeholders on the implementation of the PSTI Act as part of regular, ongoing stakeholder engagement; and recently held two series of roundtable discussions for stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of the PSTI Act in July and September 2023. PSTI Act implementation is raised in many other stakeholder meetings as part of our wider agenda.
Due to the complex nature of the provisions of the PSTI Act that relate to the renewal of relevant leases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and their interaction with the backdating of rent under that legislation, no final decision has been taken on transitional provisions. However, backdated payments were raised as a key concern during Parliamentary passage, and are something the Department is considering closely. The Department undertook to look carefully at the potential impacts of the backdating of rent when considering the commencement of these provisions and any transitional provisions, and this work is ongoing.
The Department receives quarterly updates from Registered Providers of social housing on progress towards remediating buildings for which they are the Responsible Entity. This includes data on buildings with external and/or internal life-critical fire safety defects. In addition to unsafe cladding, relevant defects may include but are not limited to: compartmentation between dwellings or between dwellings and common parts; inadequate fire stopping or fire barriers; incorrect or missing fire escape signage; inadequate or defective fire detection and alarm systems; unprotected means of escape; and inadequate or defective firefighting equipment or installations.
The Department also receives quarterly updates from developers that have signed the developer remediation contract. This too includes data on buildings with external and/ or internal life-critical fire safety defects.
Interested parties including freeholders, leaseholders, commonhold associations or enfranchised leaseholders can potentially look to pursue a previous freeholder, developer and any associated company or person for remediation costs through a remediation contribution order. They also have the potential to pursue developers, contractors, or manufacturers where they are liable for defects which meant one or more dwelling in the building was not fit for habitation when the relevant works were completed.
The definition of “life-critical defects” is in Annex 1 of the developer remediation contract.
The Department does not hold information on the impact of construction defects, relating to fire safety, on the asset value of whole buildings. However, I refer the Earl of Lytton to the answer given to Question UIN 22129 On 24 April 2024 on the selling price of individual flats.
Developers that signed the developer remediation contract are required to assess and remediate relevant buildings as soon as reasonably practicable. The length of time it may reasonably take to assess and remediate a building will vary depending on factors including the scale of works required, co-operation of third parties in granting access to the building and finalising a works contract, and risk-based prioritisation by the developer of assessments and remedial works across the portfolio of buildings for which the developer is responsible.
The Government publishes monthly data on progress that developers have made towards assessing and remediating buildings for which they are responsible under the contract.
As at end of November 2023, fire risks assessments had been undertaken on 97.6% of all buildings reported 11m+ in height which are the responsibility of social housing providers, with a further 1.5% planned in the next nine months. As at end January 2024, developers had yet to obtain an assessment for 1,607 of the 4,614 11m+ buildings for which developers had accepted responsibility under the developer remediation contract.
The Government has discretion about the length of calls for evidence.
In this instance, the call ran from Thursday 21 March to Friday 5 April 2024 and as a result this was a short duration.
The Government recognise that parish and town councils play an important role in improving the quality of life and well-being of their communities. Parish and town councils often have a close understanding of what their communities want and that is why we fully encourage schemes that support their achievements and frameworks that help improve local service delivery.
The Government recognise that parish and town councils play an important role in improving the quality of life and well-being of their communities. Parish and town councils often have a close understanding of what their communities want and that is why we fully encourage schemes that support their achievements and frameworks that help improve local service delivery.
As has been the case under successive administrations, Principal Councils have the responsibility to post notices and deliver elections locally. The Electoral Commission also provides information and guidance to voters.
The Government believes that no one should feel deterred or excluded from standing or serving as a councillor.
The Local Authority Government Sector Support Programme 2022-23 funds the Local Government Association's delivery of an expanded 'Be a Councillor' campaign to promote a greater diversity of candidates. We also provide funding to support disabled councillors including those hoping to stand for election.
On 1 June 2022, the Government published a response to a consultation following the review of the ban of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings. The consultation proposed a temporary 18-month relaxation of the ban as it relates to cavity trays. This followed from issues highlighted to officials on the excessive cost, supply (including of trained professional able to install these products) and installation of products on the market at the time. At the time we brought in the changes we considered it appropriate, on balance, to allow for a short-term exemption for combustible cavity trays as the risk they pose remains relatively low while providing temporary flexibility.
The consultation response is available here.
We will continue to review the impact of the ban including this short-term exemption and to work with industry to understand new products available on the market.
The definition of 'Defect' in the developer remediation contract and the definition of 'Relevant Defect' in the Building Safety Act were drafted for different purposes.
The definition of 'Relevant Defect' in the Building Safety Act 2022 is used in relation to a wider range of actors, defect types and circumstances.
The definition of 'Defect' in the developer remediation contract was drafted to match the wording of a public pledge signed by 49 developers. Under the developer pledge and the contract which codifies the pledge commitments, developers commit to addressing life-critical fire safety defects arising from the original design, construction or refurbishment of the building, and to do so in line with relevant standards.
The department has carried out a 11 meters-18 meters data collection looking at fire safety defects in external wall systems. The findings will be published once the analysis has been completed.
The Government intends to communicate the outcomes of the interim review of the Check, Challenge, Appeal system shortly. The Valuation Office Agency is currently conducting the customer evaluation of the delivery of the new system and intends to publish this in autumn 2020.