Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on making an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new planning rules on Material Changes of Use and Permitted Development for children’s residential homes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The joint ministerial statement on planning for children’s homes jointly published in May 2023 by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Education remains the most up to date government policy on this matter. I am aware of the Hon Member’s concerns on this issue, and if he has more information to share we would be happy to receive it.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications were (a) made and (b) rejected to access funding under schemes within the flood recovery framework in the last two years; what total amount was that has been paid out through the flood recovery framework; and how many and what proportion of applicants received the maximum pay out of £25,000 under the flood recovery framework.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In the last two years the Flood Recovery Framework has been activated twice – following Storm Babet in October 2023 and Storm Henk in January 2024. The decision to accept or reject applications for flood recovery funding is made by local authorities who are responsible for administrating all schemes, apart from the Farming Recovery Fund. To date, eligible local authorities have made payments of over £7.8 million to 8,510 impacted households and businesses. We expect this figure to rise substantially as further payments are made over the next 18 months.
With regards to the specific question on the £25,000 available under the Farming Recovery Fund scheme. DEFRA have only opened this once within the last two years on 9 April 2024 to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage. The scheme provides grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas, however, DEFRA committed actively to review the areas to be included in the fund. Those farmers who were initially identified as eligible farmers have been contacted directly by Rural Payments Agency. DEFRA will be contacting all eligible farmers following completion of our review.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will provide guidance to home owners with rotten loft timbers caused by spray foam insulation on taking steps to find appropriate insurance.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We are aware of issues that some homeowners are finding after having sprayed foam installed in their loft space and have worked with the industry and stakeholders to find a resolution.
The insulation, lending, and surveying communities published new protocols in March 2023 to allow an assessment of these spray foam installations. These describe a structured route to assessing risks from this type of insulation and are intended to provide reassurance to lenders and insurance providers. These can be found here: https://www.property-care.org/resources/spray-foam-insulation-inspections and Guides & Documents - IMA (insulationmanufacturers.org.uk). These include advice that building professionals surveying spray foam insulation should be familiar with the requirements of BS 5250:2021 where this relates to hygrothermal evaluation or suitable condensation risk assessment.
We will continue to work with regulators and industry to ensure that insurers and lenders take a fair and proportionate approach when considering building-related risks. Correspondence between departmental officials and the regulator has been published on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to amend the list of acceptable photo ID before the next General Election.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/supporting-our-veterans-a-consultation. Further policy will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues to the police on their role in investigating allegations of bribery in local council operations; and what support his Department provides to local forces handling such cases.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to ensuring the good record of transparency, probity, scrutiny, and accountability is maintained across councils in this country.
Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 requires that a councillor must not participate in a discussion or vote on a matter where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest in any matter to be considered at a meeting. Section 30(3) of the Localism Act 2011 further provides that any relevant pecuniary interests of a councillor’s spouse or partner are considered as a disclosable pecuniary interest of the councillor. Government has published guidance on disclosable pecuniary interests available.
It is a criminal offence to fail to declare pecuniary interests, which acts as a strong deterrent against corruption.
Every principal council has a Monitoring Officer, whose statutory role is to report on matters that they believe are, or likely to be, illegal or amount to maladministration.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidelines his Department issues to (a) local authorities and (b) police forces for handling allegations of bribery and corruption in council operations.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to ensuring the good record of transparency, probity, scrutiny, and accountability is maintained across councils in this country.
Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 requires that a councillor must not participate in a discussion or vote on a matter where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest in any matter to be considered at a meeting. Section 30(3) of the Localism Act 2011 further provides that any relevant pecuniary interests of a councillor’s spouse or partner are considered as a disclosable pecuniary interest of the councillor. Government has published guidance on disclosable pecuniary interests available.
It is a criminal offence to fail to declare pecuniary interests, which acts as a strong deterrent against corruption.
Every principal council has a Monitoring Officer, whose statutory role is to report on matters that they believe are, or likely to be, illegal or amount to maladministration.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to help ensure that help to buy homeowners are advised accurately by Homes England on retaining their exiting mortgage when they are going through divorce and have the means to pay.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
It is not the role of Homes England to offer financial advice to Help to Buy: Equity Loan customers. Customers are advised to consider seeking independent advice before making any financial decisions. I have asked Departmental officials to reach out to my Hon Friend to discuss this further.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment on the potential impact of increased service charges on (a) leaseholders and (b) local authorities in Oxfordshire.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Service charges should be transparent, reasonable and there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong and the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will help make this reality.
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of progress on the Leasehold and Freehold reform Bill. Full details of the measures can be found here: Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a cross-departmental strategy to end youth homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to tackling all forms of homelessness including youth homelessness.
The Government’s ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ Strategy, published in 2022 and backed by £2.4 billion, recognises young people face particular challenges. The strategy confirmed a £200 million investment in the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) which will deliver homes for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping, including young people. In addition, £2.5 million of Rough Sleeping Initiative funding for 2022-2025 supports youth services in local areas.
The department will continue to work with local authorities and partners in the voluntary and community sector and private sector to tackle youth homelessness.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2023 to Question 1227 on Local Government Finance: Audit, how many new professionals have qualified to audit local authority accounts from the Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy; and how that figure compares with expectations for 2024.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Audit Qualification was launched by the Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy. The department does not hold the requested information.