Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many new pitches, as opposed to the refurbishment of existing pitches, were funded by the Affordable Homes Programme since its inception, excluding any funded by the Traveller Site Fund 2022/23.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Between 2016 and 2023 108 new traveller pitches have been delivered from the Affordable Homes Programmes. 85 of these have been through the 2015-18 and 2016-23 Affordable Homes Programmes, and 23 from the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Gypsy and Traveller sites the Affordable Homes Programme has funded in each year since its inception, and how many in total.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
In total 208 permanent traveller pitches have been delivered since 2016, including pitches funded by other means apart from the Affordable Homes Programme.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Friends, Families and Travellers, Kicking the Can down the Road: the planning and provision of Gypsy and Traveller sites in England 1960–2023; and what steps, if any, they will take to implement its recommendations.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Department has not made an assessment of the report by Friends, Families and Travellers on the planning and provision of traveller sites in England that was published in November 2023. It is the responsibility of local planning authorities to make their own assessment of the need for traveller sites and in producing their local plan to identify sites to meet that need.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in implementing the recommendations of the Fifth Opinion on the United Kingdom of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in respect of the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The UK Government acknowledges the report from the Advisory Committee. We are studying its recommendations and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many authorised Traveller sites in England are within 50 metres of (1) A-roads, (2) motorways, (3) sewage stations, (4) waste recycling centres, (5) industrial estates, and (6) railway lines.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) does not hold data centrally on the location of authorised traveller sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that Local Planning Authorities, when developing their Local Plan, should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework, as part of the Environment Act, all Local Authorities in England are required to assess air quality in their area.
The Government does not hold centrally information on complaints for statutory nuisances. Section 78R of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires Local Authorities and the Environment Agency to keep a public register about contaminated land in their respective areas.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many authorised Traveller sites have given rise to complaints to local authorities about (1) environmental pollution and degradation, and (2) vermin infestation.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) does not hold data centrally on the location of authorised traveller sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that Local Planning Authorities, when developing their Local Plan, should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework, as part of the Environment Act, all Local Authorities in England are required to assess air quality in their area.
The Government does not hold centrally information on complaints for statutory nuisances. Section 78R of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires Local Authorities and the Environment Agency to keep a public register about contaminated land in their respective areas.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities conduct regular pollution monitoring of (1) air, (2) noise, and (3) land, contamination on authorised Traveller sites.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) does not hold data centrally on the location of authorised traveller sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that Local Planning Authorities, when developing their Local Plan, should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework, as part of the Environment Act, all Local Authorities in England are required to assess air quality in their area.
The Government does not hold centrally information on complaints for statutory nuisances. Section 78R of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires Local Authorities and the Environment Agency to keep a public register about contaminated land in their respective areas.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many authorised Traveller sites are on contaminated land.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) does not hold data centrally on the location of authorised traveller sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that Local Planning Authorities, when developing their Local Plan, should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework, as part of the Environment Act, all Local Authorities in England are required to assess air quality in their area.
The Government does not hold centrally information on complaints for statutory nuisances. Section 78R of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires Local Authorities and the Environment Agency to keep a public register about contaminated land in their respective areas.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month in June.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government supports Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month and welcomes the wide range of organisations across the country that celebrate it each year. This includes schools, colleges, housing associations, Government departments and local authorities.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Future Homes Task Force Delivery Plan to deliver net zero homes.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On the 27th July, the industry-led Future Homes Task Force published a Delivery Plan that sets out the action needed from industry to deliver new homes in line with government’s climate, environmental and sustainability targets by 2050. Relevant government departments (MHCLG, BEIS and Defra) were consulted on the development of the Delivery Plan, which aligns with upcoming regulation such as the Future Homes Standard and with wider environmental policies and priorities such as those on bio-diversity net gain and water efficiency.
The Task Force also announced the creation of the industry-led Future Homes Hub to oversee implementation of the Delivery Plan. The Future Homes Hub will help industry by coordinating pilot developments and prototypes, identifying operational solutions, carrying out research and analysis into delivery challenges and producing technical guidance. The knowledge and outputs from the Hub’s work will be freely shared with industry to help minimise costs and support effective delivery, which will be particularly helpful for SMEs.
It is right that industry leads this work and steps up where necessary to ensure it can meet the challenges associated with the country’s net zero ambitions. Government is pleased to support the work of the Future Homes Hub and senior officials from MHCLG, BEIS, Defra and Homes England sit on the Hub’s board in non-executive roles, helping advise on its programme of work and offering strategic guidance.